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H'^^J/i ^ TREATISE 



American Butter Factories 



BUTTEE MAl^UFAOTUEE. 



J 

BY X. A. WILLARD, A. M., 

u 

Lecturer at the Maine State Agricultural College and at Cornell University^ 
etc., etc 






y 



PUBLISHED BY THE WISCONSIN STATE AGEICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MADISON, WIS.: 

ATWOOD & CUIiYEB, BOOK AND JOB PBINTEBS, JOfltNAL BLOCK. 

1871. 



/"• 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1871, 

BY X. A. WILLAED, 

In the ottice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



> 



"b 



c.^'^; ^ 



l^OTIOE. 



This reprint of a paper originally published, in part, in the 
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England for 
1870, and since revised and enlarged for the Transactions of 
the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, has been found of 
such practical value as to warrant its immediate re-issue in its 
present more convenient and available form. The specialty 
to which it is devoted is one of large and growing importance, 
and the treatise itself is believed to be the most valuable con- 
tribution thereon hitherto published. 

The distinguished author has been so long before the pub- 
lic, both American and European, as a leading authority in all 
matters connected with the dairy, that he needs neither intro- 
duction nor endorsement from any quarter to insure the care- 
ful reading of whatever he may write on this subject. 

We are glad to know that this is but the precursor of a most 

complete and comprehensive work, covering the whole ground 

of the dairy interest, soon to be issued from the printing house 

of that able and popular agricultural journal, Moore's Rural 

New Yorker. 

J. W. HOYT. 
State Agricultural Rooms, 

Madison, Wis., 1871. 



AMERICAN BUTTER FACTORIES 



BUTTEE MANUFAOTTJEE. 



BY X. A. WILLAED, A. M., OF LITTLE FALLS, N. Y. 
Lecturer at the Maine State Agricultural College and Cornell University, 1/. F., etc. 



INTRODUCTIOK 

The American system of associated dairies was inaugurated 
during the eariy part of 1851. Though twenty years have 
elapsed since the plan was conceived, the leading features of 
the system remain unchanged. Great improvements, it is 
true, have been made in buildings and dairy apparatus and in 
the methods of manipulating milk for cheese and butter man- 
ufacture ; still, in organizing factories, in the manner of deliv- 
ering milk, in the relation between manufacturer and patron, 
in the care and disposal of the product, — indeed, in all the 
general outlines of the system,— it is the same to-day as wben 
Jesse Williams in 1850, mapped it out for the first cheese-fac- 
tory which he erected early the following year. 

After nineteen years' experience in associated-dairying, 
during which time the system has been put to the severest 
tests, the American dairyman finds it more economical as re- 
gards labor, buildings, dairy machinery, and appliances; 
while the factory product on an average will sell for enough 



more than that made in the individual farm-dairy to pay the 
entire cost of making. 

Another important result of the system has been a constant 
improvement in dairy management, and the better knowledge 
of all that pertains to milk and its products, than would nat- 
urally obtain under the old system. It has established a 
special profession or calling, upon which men enter with a 
view of making it a sole business. They, therefore, seek to 
perfect themselves in it, and as skill and success are sure to be 
properly rewarded in this department of labor, great emulation 
exists among manufacturers to excel in their art. 

During the first ten years of the factory system it received 
much opposition, especially from those who had only a super- 
ficial knowledge of its operations. So strong was this opposi- 
tion among the old dairymen, that it was pretty generally be- 
lieved that the system could not long endure, and it was confi- 
dently predicted that the factories would be abandoned, and 
those engaged in them would return to the old plan of indi- 
vidual or farm-dairying. 

But the factories, meanwhile, were steadily gaining ground ; 
and dairymen entering upon the new system found in it so 
much relief, as well as profit, that they could not be induced 
to abandon it ; and so to-day associated-dairying in America 
has come to be regarded as a fixed institution. 

In the original plan of Mr. Williams it was not contempla- 
ted to apply the system to butter manufacture. But the suc- 
cess of the cheese- factories suggested to the butter dairymen of 
Orange county. New York, such a modification of the system 
as would adapt it to their branch of business. 

Orange county lies about fifty miles north of New York 
city, and has long bejn devoted to producing milk for city 
consumption. It is a rolling mountainous region, abounding 
in sweet and nutritious pasturage, with never-failing springs 
and streams of pure water. The whole farming population of 
this county has for eighty years, or more, devoted its chief at- 
tention to butter-making and the production of fresh milk for 



the New York market. From so long attention to a specialty, 
the butter of Orange county, as was to be expected, was of fine 
quality, acquired a high reputation, and commanded better 
prices than any other brand made in the State. By adopting, 
however, the associated system, together with a new plan for 
setting the milk and obtaining the cream, the product has 
risen to the highest point of excellence, and in consequence 
extraordinary prices are paid for it. 

But the farmers under this system have not only reaped 
better prices for their butter, they have also obtained an addi- 
tional gain from the skimmed milk, which, under the old sys- 
tem, was fed to swine, but which now is turned into a palata- 
ble cheese. This cheese goes into the southern states ; it is 
shipped to China and the East Indies, and not un frequently 
commands a price but little below that made from whole milk. 

As the manuflicture of skimmed cheese is a part ot the but- 
ter factory system, we shall speak of it more fully under its 
appropriate head. 

THE GRASSES. 

Before entering upon the question of butter manufacture and 
factory management, it will be proper to say a word concern- 
ing the food of stock. The excellence of " fancy butter " does 
not depend altogether upon its manufacture, for, in the first 
place, good milk must be secured. 

"Fancy butter," tint will sell for a dollar per pound, cannot 
be made from bad material, from milk produced on weedy pas- 
tures, or upon the rank sour herbage of swamps, or upon land 
newly seeded with red clover. The experienced butter dairy- 
men, therefore, pay much attention to the feed of their cows 
and prefer old pastures. 

On the old pastures of the butter district there are several 
varieties of grasses that spring up spontaneously, and are much 
esteemed as affording sweet and nutritious feed, from which 
the best qualities of milk and butter are produced. These grasses 
form a dense solid turf, leaving no intervening spaces. They 
embrace the June, or blue grass {poa pratensis), the fowl mead- 



ow-grass {poa serotina), meadow fescue {festuca pratensis), red 
top {agrostis vulgaris)^ the wire grass {poa compressa), the sweet 
scented vernal and vanilla grass, together with timothy {phleum 
pratense), orchard grass (dactylis glomerata), clover and other 
forage plants. 

The June grass {poa p>rat€nsis) is regarded as very valuable: 
it throws out a dense mass of leaves, is highly relished by cat- 
tle, and produces milk from which a superior quality of butter 
is made. It is found growing throughout the butter districts 
of the country. The wire-grass {poa compressa) is deemed one 
of the most nutritive of the grasses, is very hardy, eagerly 
sought after by cattle, and is one of the best grasses for fatten- 
ing. Cows feeding upon it yield milk of the richest quality, 
from which the nicest butter is made. It flourishes well upon 
gravelly knolls and in shady places, and its stem is green after 
the seed has ripened. It is found growing in all parts of the 
country. 

The meadow fescue is common in old grass lands where the 
sod is thick, and grasses of different varieties are mingled to- 
gether. It starts up early in the spring, is relished by stock, 
and furnishes good early feed. The milk farmers hold it in 
high estimation as a reliable grass, tenacious of life, and not 
running out like timothy {phleum prateiise) or clover. The 
white clover {Trifolium^ repens) springs up spontaneously in the 
old pastures, and is highly esteemed as giving flavor and quali- 
ty to butter. 

The sweet scented vernal grass grows best upon the moist 
soil of the old meadows. It starts very early and gives off a 
very agreeable odor. 

We have been particular in naming the grasses which are 
"most esteemed for producing a high priced butter, because a 
record of long and well conducted experiments has proved 
their utility. It is possible that climate and soil might so modi- 
fy the character of these grasses, as to render them less worthy 
of esteem in other countries than among the butter dairymen 
of New York. Still, as the expericiice of farmers noted for 



their success in a particular direction, is more or less sug- 
gestive and valuable, we give the record as it is. 

THE STOCK. 

It is claimed by some that the flavor and texture of butter 
are influenced by the breed of cows. Butter from the milk of 
Breton and Jersey cows is said to be not only more solid and 
waxy in texture, but to have a finer aroma than that produced 
from other breeds. The milk of the Jersey or Alderney cow is 
exceedingly rich in cream, and has a deep yellow color, as 
is well known. 

But this question need not be discussed here. It will suffice 
to state that amcmg the butter dairymen of New York but lit- 
tle attention is paid to breeding, and no prominence is given to 
any particular breed. The herds are usually made up of " the 
common cow of the country and grade cattle." There is a sprink- 
ling of grade Short-horns, Ayrshires, Devons, and Alderneys, 
and occasionally a dash of Holstein blood, obtained by cross- 
ing thoroughbreds upon the mongrel or common cows of the 
country. But, as wc have remarked, reliance for the.mostpaft 
is had upon the so-called native or common cow of the coun- 
try for making up the herds. 

It is proper that these facts in regard to pastures and stock 
should be stated, in order that correct conclusions may be 
drawn, in making up an opinion of what we shall have to say 
about butter factories, and the character of product they are 
able to make. 

As to the size of herds kept on the farms, they are usually 
smaller than those in the cheese dairying districts. The herds 
on an average, we should say, will number about twenty-five 
cows to the farm. Some farms, it is true, carry from forty to 
sixty cows, but in the majority of cases the herds are small, 
ranging from fifteen to thirty cqws. 

THE SYSTEM OF ORGANIZING FACTORIES. 

The plan of organizing factories is somewhat similar to that 
employed in the cheese districts. The first effort of organiza- 
tion in a neighborhood, generally falls upon one or two persons, 



6 

who may be desirous of having a factory ^\hcre they can de- 
liver the milk from their cows, and have it manufactured. 
They, perhaps, have examined the workings of some factory, 
and have become convinced that greater profits are to be re- 
alized from the factory system than from the farm dai:y, be- 
sides relieving the wife and daughter from the drudgery at- 
tendant upon butter-mid^ing at home. They therefore endeav- 
or to bring their neighbors to the same opinion, and to in- 
duce them to join in erecting the proper building, &;c. They go 
and talk with their neighbors, and finally call a meeting at 
some central point in the neighborhood, when all are invited 
to come and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the 
system. 

The cost of erecting a good factory, and supplying it with 
machinery and dairy appliances, is not far from four thousand . 
dollars, and the farmers of the neighborhood are expected to 
join together, and pay for the erection of the buildings, in pro- 
portion to the size of their farms, or number of cows from 
which milk is to be delivered. The shares are put at from ten 
dollars to fifty dollars each, so as to be within the reach of far- 
mers who have but few cows. As a preliminar3^, a simple 
agreement, something like the following is drawn up and circu- 
lated for signature : 

" We, the undersigned, residents of the town of and county of , 

and state of New York, hereby agree to enter into association, for the pur- 
pose of erecting and working a butter factory in the said town. And we sev- 
erally and individually bind ourselves by these presents, on or before the 1st 
day of , 18-, to pay to oiu- regularly appointed building committee the sev- 
eral sums set opposite to our names, for the purpose of building and furnish- 
ing the said factory. And it is understood and agreed that when the said fac- 
tory shall have been completed and opened for work, each member of the 
association is to patronize it by delivering milk for one year, in proportion 
to the number of cows set opposite his name. The manufactured product 
of the said milk shall be sold by the regularly appointed agent of the asso- 
ciation, and each member shall receive his shai-e of the sales in proportion 
to the quantity of milk delivered, less the cost of manufacturing, &c. This 
agreement shall not be binding unless the sum of four thousand dollai's and 
the milk of 400 cows are subscribed. 

Name. | Amount. | No. of Cows. 



This is intended to be only a preliminary agreement. Af- 
ter the stock shall have been sabscribed, a meeting is called, 
officers are chosen, and powers are delegated for the erection 
of the building, and for putting it in operation. 

The structure being completed and furnished, a superinten- 
dent is chosen, and help hired for running the factory ; and the 
expenses are shared by the stockholders in proportion to the 
amount of milk delivered. The cost of repairs, additions, &c., 
from year to year, is added to the expense account. 

At some of the factories having the milk of 400 cows, the ex- 
pense account for labor has amounted only to a fraction above 
two mills per quart of the milk delivered, and the gross proceeds 
from sales gave to farmers about 5 1-2 cents per quart wine 
measure. 

THE MILK BUSINESS. 

Since the construction of the New York and Brie Kailway, 
which with its branches, traverses the southern tier of counties, 
large quantities of milk have been dailj'sent to New York City 
by regular milk trains, which gather up the milk at the various 
depots. The milk trains start late in the afternoon, and milk 
is forwarded but once a day. A portion of the milk is 36 
hours old when it arrives in the city. To carry milk sweet in 
our hot weather for that length of time requires some art in 
handling, and is effected in the following manner : 

The milk, as soon as it comes from the cow, is strained and 
put in long tin pails which are set in cold spring water, care 
being taken that no portion of the milk in the pails be higher 
than the flowing water that surrounds it. These pails are 8 in- 
ches in diameter, and from 17 to 20 inches long. 

The milk is stirred occasionally to prevent the cream from 
rising. It is important that the animal heat should be remov- 
ed from the milk os soon as possible, at least in an hour's time 
after it is drawn from the cow. 

The old method was to cool iho milk in the large carrying 
cans, but it has been found that it keeps sweet longer by divid- 
ing it into small quantities, and cooling it in paiU as above de- 



scribed. The milk stands in pails surrounded by fresb spring 
water until ready to be carted to the trains. It is then put in- 
to carrying cans holding from 40 to 50 gallons. The cans are 
completely filled, and the covers, which fit closely, are adjust- 
ed so that there shall be no space intervening between them 
and the milk. 

In filling the cans, if there is not quite enough milk for the 
last can, either a little water is added to make it as full as the 
others, or the milk is kept back and used for other purposes. 

These establishments are conducted on the principle of asso- 
ciation, and are called creameries — taking that name on ac- 
count of famishing the New York market daily with a certain 
amount of cream. These creameries, managed on the associ- 
ated system, return to the farmer a much larger profit than he 
is able to obtain individually. The manager of the creamery 
not only takes charge of the milk, &c., as it comes in, but sales 
are effected by him of all milk delivered. 

Members of the association deliver milk night and mornins:, 
when it is measured and properly credited to them, and no 
further trouble is had with it on their part. 

Usually the city milk-dealers make contracts with the 
creameries for a certain quantity of milk and cream during 
the season, or for such time as may be agreed upon. 

Payment is made weekly, or monthly, at so much per quart, 
at the creamery, or at the nearest railway station. 

A part of the milk is skimmed and the cream put up in cans, 
which, when ready for shipment, are placed in wooden tubs 
made tapering towards the bottom. The space between the 
cans and tubs is then packed with ice, the covers fastened 
down, and in this way the cream goes to market, where it ar- 
rives in perfect condition. 

As fast as payment is made for milk-sales the money is 
divided among the patrons in proportion to the quantity of 
milk delivered. All the transactions are kept, of course, in 
the manager's books, which are at all times open for inspec- 
tion and investigation. 



9 



BUTTER FACTORIES. 

The creamery was the first trial of the associated system by 
the milk dairymen, and out of it grew the butter factories. 
The country milk-sales, being under the control of the city 
operators, it was found necessary to devise means to become in- 
depend'^nt of combinations that were being made from time to 
time to reduce the prices of milk and cream. Hence the idea 
of manufacturing the milk into butter and cheese when fair 
terms could not be made with the milk dealers. The plan 
proved at once a success, as it regulated the price of milk in 
accordance with the value of other products of the dairy, and 
avoided losses that previously occurred on account of surplus 
milk, which, under the old system, often had to be retained at 
the creamery. 

The Original Factory. — The first American butter factory 
was erected by Mr. Alanson Slaughter, of Orange county. New 
York. The main building is a cheap two-storied structure, 
arranged on a plan similar to that of the cheese factories. On 
the ground floor are the miik vats, presses, and other appli- 
ances for making cheese, while the second floor is entirely de- 
voted to the dry-room, or department for storing the cheese 
during the process of curing, &c. 

The spring-house is built out upon the end of this structure, 
forming a wing, and is one story high. It is divided into two 
rooms, one 12 feet by 16 feet, and the other 14 feet by 24 feet. 
The packing and churning room is in a separate building, 12 
feet by 24 feet, and stands opposite the spring-room, with a 
narrow alley between. This alley is used for a horse-walk 
where the teams deliver milk and cart away the products of 
the dairy. Connected with the packing and churning depart- 
ment there is a horse-gear for churning, and an ice-house and 
store-room. 

THE SPRINGS, AND THE MANNER OF TREATING MILK. 

Among the first factories erected, the springs are situated 
within the enclosure of the spring-house, and vats or tanks 



10 



are constructed about the springs for holding the water. These 
pools are each twelve i'eet long and six feet wide. The earth 
is excavated, and the sides of the pool are laid up in solid ma- 
sonry, or with stout oak plank, so that the water in the pools 
shall rise no higher than the level of the floor of the spring 

Fig. 1— Butter and Cheese Factory. 




Awarded the Prize by the Northwestern Dairjanan's Association. 

house. Near the bottom of the pools racks are aiTanged for 
holding the cans or pails of milk ; the water flows up through 
these racks and above them to the height of seventeen inches. 
When a spring cannot be had in the spring-house, the pools 
are sunk below the level of the floor and arranged in the same 
way as above described, except that the bottoms are cemented 



11 



tight, covered with flagging or oak-plank, and the water con- 
ducted from the spring through pipes. The pails for holding 
tlie milk are of tin, from twenty to twenty-two inches in 
length and eight inches in diameter. In furnishing a factory, 
two pails are required for each cow's milk delivered. 

]^ig_ 2.— Ground Plan of Thompson's Butter and Cheese Factory. 



oooooooooooo 




As fast as the milk is received the pails are filled within 
four or five inches of the top, and immediately placed in the 
water. Care is taken that the surface of the milk in the pails 
is not above that of the water in the pools. The pails are set 
close together, and each pool has capacity for holding 2040 
quarts of milk. There should be a constant flow of water in 



12 

and out of the pools, and the flow should be sufficient to divest 
the milk of its animal heat in less than an hour. 

Some experiments have been made with a view of deter- 
mining at what temperature the water in the pools enables op- 
erations to be conducted with the most success ; and the best 
results in cream (quantity and quality considered) are obtained 
when the natural temperature of the water flowing into the pools 
is about 5H deg. Fahr. The pools should not be kept at so low 
a temperature as 4S deg., nor much, if any, above 57 deg. 
The range of temperature desired by some is from 56 deg. to 
60 deg. It is claimed that more cream, and that of belter 
quality for butter-making, may be obtained by setting the milk 
on the above plan, than it will yield when set shallower in 
pans, or when exposed to uneven temperatures. 

One feature in the process, deemed of great importance, is 
to expose as little of the surface of the milk to the air as possi- 
ble, in order that the top of the cream may not get dry, as this 
has a tendency to fleck the butter and injure the flavor. The 
milk of one day is left in the pools until next morning, which 
gives twenty-four hours for the morning's mess and twelve 
hours for the evening's mess to cream. The pails are then 
taken out of the pools and the cream dipped off. In remov- 
ing the cream a little tunnel-shaped cup, with a long upright 
handle is used, and the thin cream is dipped off down to the 
milk-line, which is readily recognized by the blue appearance 
of the milk. 

In the fall and spring of the year the cream, as it is dipped, 
goes immediately to the churns, and is churned sweet. In 
summer the cream is dipped into the pails and returned to the 
pool, and kept there till it acquires a slightly acid taste, when 
it is ready for the churns. 

The cream having been removed, the skimmed milk in the 
pails is now turned into the cheese-vat to be made into "skim- 
cheese." The pails then go to the wash-room where they are 
thoroughly cleansed with soap and water, and set upon a rack 
exposed to the sun and air. At some factories, the pails, after 



13 

being cleansed with soap and water, are placed over a jet of 
steam and thoroughly scalded. They then receive a jet of 
cold water and go upon the rack to sun and dry. This ar- 
rangement is a very great improvement in cleansing dairy 
utensils, doing the work thoroughly and expeditiously. 

The factories do not all operate alike in regard to the time 
of setting the milk. Where an extra fancy product of butter 
and skimmed cheese is desired, none of the milk is set longer 
than twenty-four hours, and at these factories it is not desired 
to take all the cream from the milk, but only the best part ; 
and the balance is employed to give quality to the " skim- 
cheese." At some establishments the cream is allowed to turn 
slightly sour before churning; but when it is churned sweet 
the buttermilk goes into the vats with the skimmed milk and 
is made into cheese. Some factories adopt the plan of holding 
the morning's milk in the pools for thirty-six hours and the 
night's milk for twenty-four hours ; but as the skimmed cheese 
by this management is less meaty than by the other method, 
it is a question whether any more profit is realized from it. 

THE CHURNS AND CHURNING. 

The churning at the large establishments is done by horse- 
power. There are a variety of powers, but that most 
commonly used is simply a large circular platform or wooden 
wheel, built about an upright shaft, the lower end of which 
turns in a socket. The wheel sets upon an incline, so that the 
horse, by walking constantly on one side, keeps it in motion. 
At the upper end of the shaft, gearing is arranged so as to give 
motion to the churns. Quite recently a small engine in con- 
nection with the heating arrangement for the cheese depart- 
ment has been used to supply power for driving the churns. 

The latest invention for supplying power for churning con- 
sists in a system of gearing, driven by a heavy weight attached 
to a stout rope which is wound about the cylinder of the ma- 
chine. Sixteen feet of rope will run the power half an hour, 
carrying the churn-dashers at the rate of fifty strokes to the 
minute, which is the rate of stroke best adapted for producing 



14 



good butter in the dash-churn. It is adapted to any size of 
churn, and has a regulator to vary the dash without changing 
the weight. 

The "Scientific American,'' in s})eaking of the merits and 
advantages of this machine, says: — "Mechanical powers of this 
character have not heretofore been very acceptable for domes- 
tic purposes, some requiring too heavy weights, and thus using 
too much rope. The inventor of this movement has produced 
a churn-power that seems very free i'rom the objections named. 
It is very compact, occupying a space only of eighteen by 
twenty inches, applicable for pumping water and many other 
kinds of light work." 

There have been many kinds of churns used in the butter 
districts, but the factories universally prefer the old-fashioned 
barrel dash-churn. They use the barrel and a half size with 



Fig. 3. — The Blanchard Churn. 



dasher. 

Recently a churn has 
been invented with re- 
volving arms, arranged so 
that the floats open and 
close at each revolution, 
and it does good work. 
By an opposite revolution 
to that used in churning, 
the floats will work the 
butter, thus combining a 
churn and butter- worker 
in one machine. We give 
its general appearance in 
Fig. 3. 

Usually, four (of the dash-churns) churns are placed side by 
side,_ so as to be all worked by the power at the same time. 
From sixty to seventy quarts of cream are put into each churn, 
and each mess of cream then receives from twelve to sixteen 
quarts of water, for the purpose of diluting it and bringing it 
to a temperature of about 60 deg. In warm weather cold spring 
water is used, and in cold weather warm water. 




15 ■ 

Some prefer diluting the cream with watsr and passing it 
through a pieve before putting it in the churns, in order that 
the particles of cream may all be of uniform size ; since if the 
butter does not come evenly, but is mixed with small particles 
of cream, it will soon deteriorate, and will not make a prime 
or fancy article. This point is considered of great importance 
by the best butter makers, and it is claimed that the method of 
setting the milk in deep pails, by which a thin cream is ob- 
tained, rather than the thick leathery masses skimmed from 
milk set in pans, renders it more evenly churned, and thus se- 
cures a better product. It is partly on this account also that it 
is preferred to have the churning occupy from half to three- 
quarters of an hour, since it has been found that when the 
butter comes too quickly it is more or less injured. 

In warm weather ice is sometimes broken up and put in the 
churn to reduce the temperature of the cream ; but it is deemed 
better to churn without ice, if the cream does not rise above 
64 deg. F. in the process of churning, as butter made with ice is 
more sensitive to heat. It is, however, a less evil to use ice 
than to have the butter come from the churn white and soft. 
In churning, the dashes are so arranged as to go downwards 
within a quarter of an inch of the bottom of the churn, and to 
rise above the cream in their upward stroke. 

The temperature of the cream, while being churned, should 
be kept below 65 deg. ; for if at the close of the churning the 
butter-milk should be at that temperature or above it, the 
flavor and color of the butter will be injured. In cold 
weather, the temperature of the cream, when ready for churn- 
ing, is a little higher than in v\arm weather, about 62 deg. being 
considered the right point. Factorymen prefer that the churn- 
ing shoidd occupy on an average about forty -five minutes : a 
half-hour being the shortest space of time, and an hour the 
longest, that should be employed in this operation. When the 
butter begins to come, the churn is rinsed down with cold 
spring water. The butter should come of a firm or solid con- 
sistency and of a rich yellow color. 



16 



WORKING AND SALTING. 

The butter is now removed from the churns, and care is 
taken never to touch it more than is necessary with the hands. 
It is lifted with the ladle into elliptical wooden trays, and the 
buttermilk is rinsed out with cold spring water. In the pro- 
cess the ladle is used lightly, while the water being turned 
over the butter is allowed to pass off at one end of the tray. 
This process is repeated two or three times, when nearly all 
the buttermilk will have been rinsed away. 

Salt is now added, and worked through the butter with the 
butter-worker, at the rate of 18 ounces for 22 lbs. of butter. 
Great care is taken that the salt be pure, and of those brands 
that are known to be free from the chloride of calcium, as a 
trace of this impurity gives a bitter taste to the butter. For 
butter that is designed to be kept over for the winter markets, 
a little more salt is sometimes used, often as high as an ounce 
of salt to the pound of butter. Not unfrequently a teaspoon- 
ful of pulverized saltpetre and a tablespoonful of white sugar 
are added, at the last working, for 22 lbs. of butter. 

In the matter of salt, however, the factories adapt the quan- 
tity to suit the taste of their customers, or for different markets. 
Of late years, light-salted butter sells best, and the rate of salt- 
ing varies from one-half to three-fourths of an ounce of salt to 
the pound of butter. The butter, after having been salted and 
worked, is allowed to stand until evening, and is then worked 
a second time and packed. In hot weather, as soon as the but- 
ter is salted and worked over, it is taken to the pools and im- 
mersed in water, where it remains until evening, when it is 
taken out, worked over, and packed. For this purpose a sep- 
arate pool is provided, which is used only for butter ; it is called 
the "butter pool," and fresh spring water constantly flows in 
and out of it, as in the pools for setting the milk. 

W^ORKING THE BUTTER. 

In working the butter, considerable skill and experience are 
required that the grain of the butter shall not be injured. The 
butter must have a peculiar firmness and fineness of texture, 



17 



and a wax-like appearance when fractured, which an improp m* 
handhng, in expelling the buttermilk and working, will de 
stroy. Care is taken, therefore, not to overwork it, nor sub 
ject it to a grinding manipulation like tempering mortar, as 
this spoils the grain and renders the butter of a greasy or salve 
like texture. 

The butter is worked with butter-workers. The one in most 
common use consists of an inclined slab standing upon legs, 
and with bevelled sides about three inches high. The slab is 
four feet long by two feet wide at the upper end, and tapering 
down four inches at the lower end, where there is a cross- 
piece, with a slot for the reception of the end of the lever. 
There is also an opening at this end for the escape of the but- 
termilk into a pail below. The lever is made either with four 
or eight sides, and the end fits loosely in the slot, so as to be 
worked in any direction. It is quite simple, but does good 
execution and is much liked at the butter factories. 

There are other butter-workers in use, and one of the more 
recent inventions is represented by the subjoined cuts (Figs. 4, 
5,6.) 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 5. 



Fig. 6. 






This is a very convenient and efficient machine, the inven- 
tion of J. P. Corbin, of Whitney's Point, K Y. The illustra- 
tions above give a good representation of it. 

A common butter-bowl is placed and held securely on a- 

light, small stool, firmly against a solid rest that protects it 

from breaking or springing. It may be revolved either way, 

at will, also easily tipped by a lever to drain off the fluids, and 

as readily removed from the stool r.s from a table, and bowls 

ot different sizes may be used on the same stool. 
B 



18 

The ladle is attached to a pendant lever that enables a per- 
son to press directly through hard butter m all parts of the 
bowl without drawing or sliding it; also to cut, turn and work 
it in every manner desired. It is light, strong and simple, 
everything about it is practical, with nothing to get out of 
place or order, and it is as handily moved, washed and dried as 
any butter-bowl and ladle. 

The lever is fastened to the slot while the butter is being 
worked, and is raised up to discharge the buttermilk from the 
bowl as occasion requires. 

There is a circular iron fastened to the bottom of the bowl, 
which slides in an iron groove attached to the lever, and which 
allows the bowl to be moved round, and, when desired, to be 
removed entirely from the other parts of the worker. 

After the butter has been washed in the trays, a batch weigh- 
ing 22 lbs. is laid upon the inclined slab, or butter-worker, 
first described, and then spread out with the ladle. Pure Ash- 
ton or Onondaga salt, made fine by rolling, is now sprinkled 
over the mass and the lever applied, first beginning at one 
side until the whole is gone over. Only a few manipulations 
of this kind are required to work in the salt and complete this 
part of the process. 

As it is in.portant that the buttermilk should be completely 
removed, this is facilitated during the working process by ap- 
plying a slightly dampened napkin to the surface, or by the 
use of a damp sponge covered with a napkin for the purpose. 

PACKING, 

The butter is packed in firkins, in half firkins, and in Orange 
county pails. The pails are " return pails," that is, they are 
not sold with the butter, but are to be returned to the factory 
after the purchaser has taken out the butter. They hold about 
60 lbs. of butter, are of white oak, nicely made, and strongly 
hooped with heavy band-iron. They have movable covers that 
fit closely, and are fastened with wooden bolts or metallic 
clasps. The firkins are also made of white oak, heavily hooped, 
and the sides neatly turned. 



19 




Fig.l — The WescottRetui-n Butter Pail. The oreatest attention 

is paid to have the pack- 
ages perfectly tight, so as 
not to permit the least 
leakage. White oak is 
regarded as the best ma- 
terial for packages, and 
the batter fiictories use 
no other. The firkins hold 
Lboat 100 lbs. each. The 
half-firkin is simply the firkin sawed in two, and provided 
with an oak head, which is nailed on the top of the package 
after it is filled. 

These pails are made of white oak, and are hooped with iron 
bands. They are manufactured at Belmont, N. Y 

The firkin is prepared for use by soaking in cold water, after 
that in scalding water, and then again in cold water. It is 
then either filled with brine and soaked twent}- four hours, or 
the inside is thoroughly rubbed with dry salt, and left to stand 
for a short time, when it is considered ready for use. 

In packing the butter it is pressed together as solidly as may 
be, and when the firkin iy filled it is immediately headed up, 
and a strong brine poured through a hole in the top head, to 
fill all the intervening spaces. The orifice is then closed, and 
the firkin is set in a cool cellar until it is ready to be sent to 
market. When the half-firkin is filled, a dry cloth, cut so as 
to entirely cover the butter, is spread over it, and covered with 
a thin layer of salt. The cover is then fastened on, and the 
package is set away in a dry cool place until it is taken to 
market. 

MARKETING. 

The butter factories usually have orders for butter as fast as 
it is made, so that the consignments are from week to week. 
In Orange county the manner of marketing butter differs from 
that practised in other localities. Consignments are not gener- 
ally made direct to the city dealers, but they are intrusted to 
" captains," as they are called, or persons who make it a busi- 



20 

ness to collect freights of this kind, and take tbem in charge 
to New York, making the sales and returning the proceeds to 
the manufiacturer. The " captains" go with their freight twice 
a week, are men of standing and responsibility, who are 
well acquainted with the trade, and know how and when to ob- 
tain the best prices. 

They receive a commission for their labors, and f5nd it to 
their interest to make good sales, otherwise they lose the confi- 
dence of those entrusting freight to their charge, and are liable 
therefore, to be displaced. The captains often receive propo- 
sals for large lots of butter, which proposals are submitted to the 
factories, when they are accepted or rejected as seems best to 
the parties interested. They supply private families and hotels, 
and by having a line of customers who are willing to pay a 
high price for an extreme fancy article, very large returns are 
not unfrequently made to the factories. 

By this system, the producer being brought near to the con- 
sumer, he must realise full prices for his goods, instead of feed- 
ing a class of middle men, each one of whom will take his profit 
out of the product. 

With factories quite remote from the city, the product is 
either consigned to the wholesale dealer, to be sold on com- 
mission, or the brand, having a reputation, is sold directly to 
city dealers, on contracts for weekly or semi-monthly deliveries. 

ADVANTAGES OF BUTTER FACTORIES. 

The advantages of butter making on the associated dairy 
system over that in private families are very great. In the 
first place, by the association system a uniform product of su- 
perior character is secured. Every appliance that science or 
skill, or close attention is able to obtain, is brought to bear 
upon the manufacture, and prime quality necessarily follows 
as a result. 

If you could assume that in a neighborhood of ICO families 
each family had the skill and convenience of the factory, and 
that each would give the subject the same close attention, then, 
doubtless, there would be no difference as to the quality of 
product ; but such a state of things rarely exists. 



21 

Again, the factories are able to obtain a larger price, because 
it costs the dealer no more to purchase the one hundred dairies 
combined than it would to purchase an individual dairy, and 
the uniformity and reliability of the product does not entail 
the losses that are constantly occurring in different small lots 
by reason of inferior quality. The factories, too, as we have 
previously remarked, relieve the farmer and his family from a 
great deal of drudgery, and unless the work can be done by 
members of the family, who cannot be employed profitably at 
other labors, it is a matter of economy to have the butter and 
cheese made at the factory, since what would take one hundred 
hands scattered over the country to do, is performed in the 
same time by three or four, when the milk is worked up to- 
gether in one place. 

The only serious complaint against the factory-system is in 
ihauling the milk. This has been obviated in many instances, 
by establishing a route of milk-teams, where milk is delivered 
for the season by the payment of a small sum. 

THE SKIM CHEESE. 

We have referred to the manufacture of " skim cheese" as 
a part of the butter-factory system. We have said that the cream 
is dipped from the milk while it is sweet, and that the latter 
then goes into the milk-vats for making "skim cheese." 

It should be remarked that at the butter factories the quan- 
tity of milk to be manipulated is usually much smaller than at 
the cheese factories. In making a fancy product it is found 
advisable that the delivery of milk be kept withhi moderate 
•bourids, say from three hundred to four hundred cows. The 
factory milk-vats are all essentially alike in form and size. 
They hold from five hundred to six hundred gallons. 

There is a great variety of heating apparatus, boilers, steam- 
ers, tanks for hot water, and what is termed "self-heaters," that 
is with fiire-box attached to, and immediately below, the milk- 
vat. This kind of heater is very popular at the butter factories, 
as it consumes but little fuel, is easily managed, and docs as 
good work as the best. 



22 



The ordinary heater is conptructed separately from the vat, 
and consists of wrought-iron pipes, screwed together in such a 
manner as to form a fire-chamber, and present a large amount 
of heated surface. 

Fuj. 8. — YieiB of 3IiUar's Healer, idth Frmit and Side of Biickwork removed. 




When a boiler and engine are used, power is afforded for 
diiving the churns, and in this respect this system must prove 
most convenient. Still as the expense is considerably more 
than for the self-heater, both in the first cost and for fuel, many 
prefer the latter. We give figures of two kinds of heaters 
that are very largely in use. 



23" 



Fig. Q.— Millar's Circulating Coil-Heater for Fat- "^^^ factory vat (Fig. 

tory Milk-mt, {consisting of coil of gas-pipe en- 10) is constructed on 

closed in bride , • • ^ ^„ 

the same prmciple as 

that for larm dairies. 
The fire-box under- 
neath runs from end 
to end. It i? sim- 
ply a copper cylinder 
with a jacket two in- 
ches or more from 
cylinder on lower 
side, so that water 
surrounds the cylind- 
er or fire-box. This 
vat requires but 
I very little fuel. I 
have one of the 
farm vats upon my 
farm, and my farm- 
er, in summer has . 
done all the work 
in making cheese 
from my dairy of 30 
cows, using only a 
" pan of chips," say 
10 to 12 quarts. 
The pipe hanging 
over the vat is a 
movable syphon for 
drawing off whey. 
It is represented with 
one end inserted in 
the tin strainer, 
which is also mov- 
able, or so as to be 
detached. B is the 
smoke pipe. 




24 



Fig. 10.— The Oneida, or Factory Vat. 

ill 




The next engraving (Fig. 
11) represents the tin or 
inner vat raised, and the 
sides of the ' outtr vat 
broken out to show the 
heater and the supports 
of the inner vat. 

The outer vat is lined 
with galvanized sheet-iron; 
B is the inner tin vat ; 
the copper vat heater, ex- 
tending the entire length 
of ihe vat, aiid surrounded, 
by water in a semi cylin- 
drical jacket open at the 
top, which water also fills 
the space between the vats. 
D is the tank or reservoir 
for hot water, separate 
from that between the 
vats, and E the cop- 
per heater for tank or 
reservoir. F smoke-pipe 
for both vat and tank 
heaters. The numbers in- 
dicate the following parts: 
1, fliucet connecting water- 
space between the vats 
with tank. 2, water-gate 
in outside vr.t. 3, water- 
gate in tank. 4, tube 
through which the whey 
is drawn from the strainer 
inside the inner vat. The 
strainer and whey faucet 
are not shown in the en- 
graving. 



25 



Fig. 11, — Interior of Milk-vat, with Heated' beneath. 




The above milk- vat is for farm dairies. Tiiere is another 

door or fire-box at the back, similar to that at E, where fire is 

Fig. 12. made to heat the water under 

the vat (B), when in place. 
Fig. 14:. In making skim cheese the 
milk is set at 82 deg., and suf- 
ficient rennet added to coagu- 
late it in from forty to sixty 
minutes. It is then cut in 
cheeks with a gang of steel 
knives, the blades set one quar- 
ter inch apart. 

It is now left at rest for a 
short time for the curd to sub- 
side, when it is further divided, 




26 



Fig. 15. — The Iron Clad Company's Metallic 
Hoop. 



the gang of blades being set at an angle of 45 deg. with the bot- 
tom of the vat. It is now gently lifted with the hands, and 
the process of breaking or subdivision completed. Then a 
slow heat is begun to be applied to the mass ; the curd, mean- 
while, being stirred to keep it from packing, until a tempera- 
ture of 96 deg. is reached. This is the highest heat to which 
the curds are subjected. 

When the curds have acquired a sufficiently firm consis- 
tency, the whey is drawn, and the curds thrown upon a sink 
to drain and cool, after which they may be run through a curd 
mill and salted, and then put to press. 

This metallic hoop is 
an improvement on the 
wooden hoop, as it al- 
lows a close fitting follow- 
er, and is not liable to 
fall to pieces when out of 
use as with the woodeu 
hoop, on account of shrink- 
age of the staves and 
loosening of the band irons. 
The rubber ring is an improvement for keeping the edges of 
the cheese smooth and in good order while pressing. It has now 
been thoroughly tested. It prevents the curd from pres.-^ing up 
around the follower of a cheese hoop, and takes the place of 
press cloths. 

Fig. 1 . — Jlillar's Hoop and Rubber Ring. 



\\^ 





The above cut represents a cheese hoop cut in too perpen- 



27 



dicularly. A, represents the cheese Hoop ; B, the Follower ; 

C, the Cheese ; E and F, the Rubber Washers or Rings. One 

of these Rabber Rings is placed on the inside of the cheese 

hoop resting on the press board below the curd or cheese. 

^. .« mx. ^ n 73.. The other is placed above the 
Fig.ll— The Fraser Gang Press. , -, ■, r ^^ 

cheese, directly under the ioliower. 

As soon as the pressure is applied 
it causes the Rubber Rings to ex- 
pand and fit tight to the hoops, 
preventing the curd from pressing 
either up around the follower, or 
out underneath the bottom of the 
hoop. 

By using these rubber rings the 
followers may fit the hoops very 
loosel}'-. They are more conven- 
ient than press cloths, are more 
readily cleaned, and v^^ill last 
much longer. They are made 
beveling, so they leave a nice 
rounding edge on the cheese, and 
save all trimming. 

Directions for Using. — Cut the 

/jW^^^^^MV^ 'IWIa ^^^o o"ce and then fit the 
ii\%^m&^^&.d • /M//L rings to the hoops, and if there is 

any lap cut it out, so that the ends 
just meet when the ring is fitted 
closely to the sides of the cheese 
hoop. Place one at the bottom of 
the hoop, <ill in the curd and put 
another under the follower. It is 
not necessary to use any press cloths, though some prefer to 
use circular cap cloths. If the cheese hoop fits closely to the 
press board, the lower ring is not always necessary. Several 
small holes should be made in the cheese hoop, to allow the 
whey to readily run off. 




'''I'm/"//!///' 



28 



Fig. 18. — The Fraser Gang Press. 




The Frazer gang presses are a new invention and are much 
liked where they have been tried. D. H. Barrel], Little Falls, 
N. Y., is general agent for them. 



29 




Fig. 19. — The Millar Patent Ratchet Cheese-press Screw. 

The manufacture of skimmed cheese is 
very similar to the American process of 
manufacturing whole-milk cheese, except 
that a lower heat is employed in "scalding," 
and less salt i: used ; the proportion of salt 
being at the rate ol 2 4-10 to 2 1-2 lbs. for 
1000 lbs. of milk. 

The cheeses are made thin like the single 
G-loucester, about four inches thick, and 
pressed in hoops fourteen to fifteen inches in 

d i ameter. 
The style 
of cheese, 
however, 
varies at 

different factories ; some making a small sized fancy shape, 
eight to ten inches in diameter, and about the same height. 




Fig. 20. 



The Oblong /Shape. — Recently 
a new form, or style of cheese, 
has been introduce which 
promises to be a success. The 
advantages claimed for it are — 

1. The curd is pressed in a 
large cake (pressing in one curb 
or mould from ten pounds to 
one thousand or more) and then 
cut into blocks of any desired 
size. These blocks are then 
bandaged, and placed in the 
mould in layers, and again 
pressed, and the whey starts 
again, especially at the freshly 
cut sides. In this manner 
cheeses may be made weighing 
from ten to one hundred pounds each, to suit any market, and 




30 

small cheeses can be m^de at very nearly the same expense as 
large ones. 

Fig. 21. — Cheese-press and Mould used for the Holdridge Cheese. 




A. Cheese with handage. B. Composite Cheese-mould. C. Square Hoop. 
D. and E. Morticed slips for connecting the Hoops. 

2. The escape of the whey by evaporation is greatly facili- 
tated by this form of cheese-cakes, for, as the ^\\^J percolates 



31 

towards the bottom of the cakes (these cakes being turned 
from time to time only a quarter of a revolution), the whey, 
instead ot turning back toward the centre of the cheese — as is 
the case with all round cheese— is turned at right angles 
thereto, and is consequently always tending towards the out- 
side ; and the whey is so far expressed and evaporated that 
decom|iosition is much less liable to take place. 

8. These cakes, being entirely covered with bandage, may 
be cured with or without greasing, and are thus rendered safe 
from fiie?. 

4. They are much more easily turned and handled than 
round cheese. 

5. They arc shipped to market in boxes of thin stuff of 
any kind of timber. Any farmer can make them, making the 
boxes of such size as he chooses, and at an expense much less 
than for round boxes. For ten-pound cheese, boxes are used 
with success containing 18 cheeses, 180 lbs. ; and for thirtj^- 
pound cheeses. 8 in a case, 240 lbs. This item of boxes is a 
great advantage. The boxes are solid, and there are no covers 
to come off. The cleats on the outside of the boxes prevent 
them from being packed too closely together in carrying or in 
store-houses. There is a great saving in weight, a^, in the old 
style, down weights are given in each cheese, while in this 
shape only one down weight is given for 18 small cheeses or 8 
large ones. 

6. For retail trade this form of cheese is of great advantage. 
The dealer can weigh the whole cheese, and cut by measure 
the exact weight required, and many of the cheeses are sold 
without cutting. 

7. For family use small cakes a)'e a great success. A ten- 
pound cheese is 10 inches in length and 5 inches square, and is 
cut for table use as follows: 

' Turn the bandage back from the end, cut a thin slice from 
the end of the cheese, then cut off the desired slices for the 
table, and replace the thin slice and bandage ; set the cheese 
on end and it is sealed, and as safe as an uncut cheese. 



82 

8. These cheeses cure much better than round ones, as the 
gases, if any be generated, escape from the ends, and are 
not forced back and forth through the cheese as with round 
ones. 

9. They take less room in the dry-house, and women and 
children can easily turn and handle them. 

10. For exportation they gi'eaily excel the round cheese. 
They can be packed closer, boxes cost less, and small cheese 
can be boxed and shipped at nearly the same expense as large 
ones. They have been shipped to England with great success 

When curd is ready for pressing it is placed in the mould 
E. of a square or rectangular form and with one side arranged 
to open by removing pins at the corners. After the curd is 
pressed into a broad flat cake it is vertically cut with a firm 
saw into blocks as represented in cut, and bandaged with mus- 
lin. These are placed one upon another in layers, say two deep 
in the mould, with thin boards or other plates between them, 
and are again subjected to the action of the press, by which 
the whey is still further pressed out, especially of the freshly 
cut sides of the cakes. The pressing is continued as long as 
needed, after which the cakes are removed to the shelf or cur- 
ing-room, to allow the remaining whey to escape by evapora- 
tion. This is claimed to be facilitated by the form of the 
cake, because, as the whey percolates towards the bottom, and 
in turning as is required, from time to time, the cakes are only 
turned a quarter of a revolution, the whey instead of being 
turned directly back in its course is turned at right angles, and 
is consequently always tending nearer to the exterior. 

In this way, together with the pressing, it is claimed the 
whey is so far dissipated that decomposition is much less lia- 
ble to take place, and therefore, the cheese may be preserved 
without the greasing commonly employed. 

BUTTER-MAKING AT THE CHEESE FACTORIES. 

Within the last three or four years a good quality of butter 
has been made at some of the cheese factories. The plan adopted 
is to spread out the night's milk in the vats used for making 



33 



cheese, allowing a stream of water to flow under the inner 
vat, or to fill the space between the inner and outer vats. The 
milk is by this means reduced to about 60 degs. and what cream 
rises daring the night is skimmed off in the morning and made 
into butter. 

The morning's milk is then added to the skimmed milk as it 
comes to the factory, and is made into cheese by the usual 
process, except that a lower heat and less salt is used than for 
the whole-milk cheese. 

By careful manipulation and skill, very nearly, if not quite. 

Fig. 22.-G. F. Jenning's Milk ^^ 8°^^ ^ product of cheese is 

Fan for Setting Milk, fitted made as at the factories makmg 

icith rnovable Covers of Netting i i -ii i 

to keep out Dust and Flies. whole-milk cheese ; at least, with 

good milk and high skill, ex- 
perts are unable to detect the dif- 
ference. 

At one of these factories, which 
we visited in 1870, the delivery 
of milk for the day amounted to 
6,839 lbs. The cream taken from 
the night's mess of milk made 87 
lbs. of butter, and when the 
morning's milk was added to the 
skimmed, milk it made 9 cheeses 
of 72 lbs. each. 

In some factories, in order that 
the night's milk may not be 
massed together in too large quan- 
tities, resort is had to a large shal- 
low pan set in a wooden vat with 
space between the two for water. 
The milk is set in these pans 
from 2 to 3 inches deep, and a 
stream of cold water kept flow- 
ing in the space between the pan 
and the vat during the night. 
These pans are from 8 to 12 feet, or more, long, by 2 to 3 feet 




84 

wide, and are arranged so that the milk may be drawn oif 
through an orifice in the bottom. The skimming is efiFected 
with a tin scoop. 

The above figure (25) will illustrate this apparatus. It does 
its work very effectually. 

THE JEWETT PAN". 

The Jewett pan is somewhat similar in construction to the 
Jennings Pan, and the same principles are involved in its op- 
eration, I have tested the Jennings pan in my own dairy, and 
am well pleased with it ; and I believe these pans are a very 
great saving both in labor and product over the old system of 
setting the milk in small pans They can be made of any de- 
sired size to accommodate the entire mess of milk from a mode- 
rate sized dairy. Usually, one surface foot of pan bottom will be 
sufficient for two cows ; so that any one maj calculate pretty 
accurately what will be needed for his dairy. The sides of the 
pan are about five inches high. 

In farm dairies, where the milk rooms are not constructed 
on the Orange county plan, or that described for making Phil- 
adelphia butter, these pans serve a very important purpose, 
since the milk, by means of running water, may be kept at a 
pretty even temperature in an ordinary, or less expensive milk 
room. The way to use them is to put one milking of the en- 
tire dairy into one pan, adjusting the faucet in the supply pipe 
so as to use just water enough to extract the animal heat from 
the milk, and keep it at the desired temperature while the 
cream is rising — say from 60 to 62 deg. At the time the fourth 
pan is wanted for use, the first will be ready to skim ; then 
stop the water from running into the pan that a sufficient quan- 
tity of water may run out while the milk is skimmed, and run 
off to enable the milk-maid to clean, the pan. 

The American ArtizanihuB describes the following cut of the 
Jewett pan: 



85 



Bh ^.. 



•-5 




" As given in the engraving, one of the series of pans, A A 
is represented as broken away to show the internal arrange- 
ment These pans are provided with a space, B between their 



36 • 

top and bottom walk Within this space are a number of 
compartments communicating with each other at alieinate 
ends, in such a manner as to form one continuous channel, 
zigzag in its course, having an inlet at a, through which warm 
or cold water, as needed, is received ; such water, after flowing 
through the tortuous channel formed bj the partitions, being 
discharged at the outlet h. At b is shown the opening through 
which the overflow of water is discharged ; the object being to 
keep the channel in the bottom of the pan quite filled while 
the water is flowing through it. At cis shown a. faucet through 
which all the water m the channel can be drawn off. 

When the cream has raised and has been skimmed, the milk 
is then run off through the pipe d, which communicates with 
the main discharge pipe, F, wliich may be placed under the 
floor or not, as circumstances will permit; or if desired the 
milk can be conveyed in movable horizontal pipes from the 
pans into an adjoining room on the same floor. The pipe seen 
attached to the side of the room and above the row of pans is 
the source of supply from which water is conducted to the 
base ot the pans. For cooling, the water is received from a 
spring or reservoir ; but for warming, from boilers or other ap- 
propriate apparatus. 

WHEY BUTTER. 

At the whole-milk cheese factories a new process is begin- 
ning to be adopted for taking the butter out of whey and pre- 
paring it for table use. Whev butter is not equal in flavor or 
texture to the lancy product manufactured at the butter fac- 
tories. Still, by the new process, whey butter may be made 
very palatable, and, when fresh, commands a good price. 

We have seen whey butter side by side in the markets with 
that made from cream in the usual way, and dealers have se- 
lected the former in preference to the latter, not for a moment 
suspecting its origin. Indeed, so fine are some of the samples, 
and so neatly are they put up, that it has been sold week after 
week at the Little Falls market for the same price as good 
brands of butter made in the farm dairies. 



37 

Whey butter soon deteriorates in flavor, and should be con- 
sumed when freshly made. We give description of appara- 
tus and process of making as follows : 

Apparatus. — The apparatus is a copper-bottomed vat 12 feet 
long t)y 3 feet wide, and 20 inches deep. These dimensions 
may be varied to accommodate iht size of the dairy. The vat 
sets over a brick or stone arch, and is accommodated to the 
use of l'^ or 20 inch wood. The floor is a slightly inclmed 
plane towards the back of the vat. The vat and arch should 
be placed a little lower than the milk-vat so as to enable the 
whey to be easily drawn off by means ot a syphon. 

The xjrocess. — Afterdrawing the whey from the curd into the 
vat over the arch referred to, one gallon of acid is added to 
the whey for every 50 gallons ot milk, if the whey is sweet. 
If the whey is changed a less quantity will be sufficient, and if 
the acid is not sharp, one pound of salt should be incorporated 
with it. 

The acid having been added in the above proportions, heat 
is immediately applied to the mass until it indicates a tempera- 
ture of from ITC^ to 180° Fahrenheit The cream now begins 
to rise, and is .-kimmed off with a tin scoop ; and when it has 
all been remov-.d it is set in a cool place, and left to stand for 
24 hours. It is then churned at a temperature of from 56° to 
68°, according to the temperature of the weather, and is then 
worked and salted in the ordinary manner of butter-making. 
This process gives on an average 20 pounds of butter from 500 
gallons of whey. 

Making the Acvl — The acid is made by taking any quantity 
of whey alter extracting the cream, heating it to the boiling- 
point, and adding a gallon of strictly sour whey for every 10 
gallons of boiling whey, when all the casein and albuminous 
matter in the whey will collect in a mass, and may be skimmed 
ojff. The whey is now left to stand for 24 or 48 hours, when 
it will be ready for use as acid. 

After the butter is made by the above process, the whey is 



38 

considered by those wlioliave made experiments with it, to be 
better for feeding to swine than whey not subjected to the pro- 
cess, as the sugar of milk is retained longer without change. 

RESULTS OBTAINED AT THE BUTTER FACTORIES — LABOR, ETC. 

The average product from the milk during the season at the 
butter factories is a pound of butter and two pounds of skim 
cheese from 14 quarts of milk. There is a variation in the 
quality of milk at different seasons of the year; and in the 
fall, when the cows are giving a smaller quantity, it is, of 
course, richer in cream, and better results are obtained from 
the same quantity than early in the season. This will be seen 
from the following examples of a single day's work, taken at 
random from the book of one of the factories : 

On May 18th, from 8512 quarts of milk, wine measure, 
there was produced 213 lbs. of butter and 560 lbs. skim cheese. 
On May 26th, from 3,300 quarts of milk, 210 lbs. of butter 
and 550 lbs. of cheese. On September 12th, from 3,180 quarts 
of milk, 200 lbs. of butter and SIH lbs. of cheese. On October 
14th, from 2,027 quarts of milk, 120 lbs. of butter and 407 lbs. 
of cheese. 

In the working of any system, practical men always desire 
statistics of results. The following is a statement of receipts 
and expenditure.", at one of the small butter factories, where a 
portion of the milk was sold. 

The quantity of milk received f;om April 10th to December 
1st, was 627,174 quarts, of which 27,308 were sold at a little 
above 7 cents per quart, leaving 509,866 quarts to be made 
up into butter aud cheese. The product was as follows: 
31,630 lbs. of butter, 81,778 lbs. skim cheese ; 15,908 lbs. 
whole milk cheese ; 2,261 quarts cream sold at 19 6-10 cents 
per quart, and 1,561 quarts skim milk, at 15 cents per quart 



39 

The net cash receipts, after ded"ucting transportation and 
commissions were as follows : 

For pure milk sold $1,926.22 

For skim milk sold 24.03 

For butter sold 13,344.21 

For skim cheese sold 11,659.08 

For whole-milk cheese 1,065.44 

For 2,261 quarts cream 443.33 

Hogs fed on whey 446.24 

Buttermilk and sundries 207.49 

Making total of $29,116.03 

The expense account was as follows : 

For labor $1,476.40 

For fuel 79.96 

For cheese boxes 653.17 

For 20 sacks of salt 89.25 

For rennets, bandages, &c 483.55 

For carting cheese and butter to station 273.10 

Paid for hogs 179.90 

Total 13,235.33 



This gives an aggregate net receipt of $25,880.70. 

From these statements it appears that the butter averaged 
42 1-4 ceijts per pound, the skim cheese 14 1-4 cents, and the 
whole-milk cheese 18 cents per pound, while the average 
amount received on the whole quantity of milk was i 1-10 
cents per quart. The whole expenses of the factory were a 
little over one-half cent per quart. 

For working this factory there were employed, besides the 
superintendent, three hands, viz., two men and one woman. 
The labor account for conducting this factory, it will be seen 
s a little over two mills per quart. 

MEANS EMPLOYED FOR DETECTING DILUTED MILK. 

The most unpleasant feature of the factory system appears 
when dishonest patrons attempt to rob the association by the 
delivery of watered milk. The laws of New York are very 
severe on persons found guilty of this misdemeanor, punishing 
with heavy fines and imprisonment The factory manager 
keeps watch over the milk as it it is delivered, setting aside 
small quantities from time to time for observation and experi- 



40 



ment with the hydrometer. Each factory is also provided 
with a set of small glass tubes, upon which the names of the 
patrons are pasted. As milk is delivered a small sample is 
placed in the different tubes corresponding with the name of 
the patron, and set aside. If the milk is not all right, the hy- 
drometer and these samples give warning ; the milk is then 
subjected to a more careful test, by the use of thecreamguages 
and per cent, glass, which are represented in the following fig- 
ures. 

Instruments for Testing Milk. 
Fig. 24. 





Fig. 26. 



41 

In testing, one of the cream-guages is filled to guage-mark 
10, with milk known to be pure, and drawn from several cows. 
This will be the standard for pure milk for that day. Another 
guage is filled to the same number (10), with milk from a 
can which you wish to test. To avoid any mistake, the first 
jar containing pure milk is marked with the letters P. M. on 
the side or bottom. The jars are set away side by side, a suffi- 
cient length of time for the cream to rise. Now note the quan- 
tity of cream in each. If a less quantity is found on the milk 
you are testing than on the other, it indicates dilution, or 
skimmed milk. Now remove the cream from each with a 
spoon, introduce the hydrometer (or " lactometer," as it is usu- 
ally called) into the jar marked P. M., and note on the scale- 
mark when it floats. Then remove it to the other jar, and note 
also when it floats. If it sinks lower than in the first jar, the 
evidence is considered almost positive of dilution with water. 
Replace the lactometer in jar marked P. M., from percent, glass 
filled with water exactly to nought or zero pour into P. M. jar 
until the lactometer sinks exactly to the same point as in the 
other jar. Now count a number on per cent, glass from zero 
down (each mark represents one-half of one per cent.) and you 
will have precisely the per centage of water with which the 
milk you are testing has been diluted. 

Although there may be considerable variation in the specific 
gravity of milk from different cows, it has been found that 
when the milk of several cows is mingled together, and when 
the milk of different herds of a neighborhood are compared, 
there is but little difference in the specific gravity of the sev- 
eral samples. 

These tests have been very effectual in bringing offenders to 
justice, and with the very strict law on the subject, very little 
trouble is now had on account of adulterated milk. 

ANNATTOINE. 

The butter factories prefer to give color to their butter by 
having the rows well fed, and by getting up the cream as 



42 

quickly as possible after the milk is drawn. Sometimes, in 
winter, a little coloring may be used, and for this purpose as 
well also as for coloring the cheese, nothing has given so much 
satisfaction as annattoine, or the dry extract of annatto recently 
introduced. 

The modes of preparing annatto for commerce are various 
and intricate. M. Le Blond, a French chemist, gives an ac- 
count of its manufacture as follows ; he says : 

The pods of the true Bixa Qrellana being gathered, their 
seeds are taken out and bruised, and placed in a vat, which is 
called a steeper, when they are covered with water. Here the 
substance is left for several weeks or even months. It is then 
squeezed through sieves placed above the steeper, that the 
water containing the coloring matter in suspension may return 
to the vat. The residuum is preserved under the leaves of 
the banana or palm, till it becomes hot by fermentation, when 
it is again subjected to the same operation, and this treatment 
is continued till no more color remains. The precipitate is 
boiled in copper to a consistent paste ; it is then suffered to 
cool, and is dried in the shade. The annatto of commerce, as 
is well known, is often largely adulterated, during the boiling 
process, with red ochre, powdered bricks, calcothar, farinaceous 
substances, chalk, sulphate of lime, turmeric, &c., while salt 
and oil are added as preservatives against a bug which is gen- 
erated in annatto, especially that which is adulterated with far- 
inaceous substances. 

Instead of this long process, which engenders disease by the 
putrefaction induced, and which affords an inferior product, 
M. Le Blond proposed simply to work the seeds until they are 
entirely deprived of their color, which lies wholly on the sur- 
face ; to precipitate the same by means of an acid, and to boil 
in the ordinary manner, or to drain in bags as is practised with 
indigo. This process, it i.? said, has never been successfully 
carried out on a large scale until now (1870), as no precipitate 
could be found that did not in one way or another injure the 
color. Small quantities were prepared according to Le Blond's 



43 

theory, and the French dyers found it to be worth four times 
more than the ordinary annatto of commerce, that it was more 
easily employed, that it required less solvent, that it gave less 
trouble in the coppers, and that it furnished a purer color. 

The American preparation of G. De Cordova, under the 
name of annattoine or dry extract of annalto, is claimed to 
be an improvement on, and a perfection of, the Le Blond and 
Yauquelin theories. The latier asserts that boiling injures the 
color, and as this has been clearly proven, Cordova reduces 
the precipitation to a powder, instead of boiling it to a paste. 
As this preparation gives a beautiful color, and is very much 
cheaper than any preparation of annatto in the market, at the 
same time being free from any deleterious adulteration, the 
managers of American factories are greatly pleased with it, and 
it is rapidly taking the place of other preparations. 

It is cut or made ready for use in the following manner : 
1st. put two pounds of annattoine in four gallons of clear cold 
water, and let it stand in this state one day, stirring thoroughly 
meantime, so as to perfectly dissolve the annattoine. 2nd. 
Then put two pounds strongest potash and one pound sal-soda 
(carbonate of soda) in three gallons of cold water. When 
this is perfectly dissolved and settled, pour off the clear liquor, 
and mix the two preparations (Nos. 1 and 2) together. 3d. Let 
this compound stand two or three days, until the annattoine is 
cut or dissolved perfectly by the potash, stirring occasionally 
meantime. Use about a tea-cup full for a thousand pounds of 
milk. Do not mix with the rennet, but put it in a little milk, 
and then mix in the mass of milk in the vats by stirring it in 
thoroughly, just before the rennet is used. 

If a day or two after the preparation is made, the annattoine 
does not seem to be perfectly cut, so that specks can be seen, it 
is certain that the potash was not strong enough. Adding 
more of a stronger solution of potash will remedy the trouble. 

When annattoine is used for coloring butter, a portion of 
the prepared liquor is added to the cream, at the commence- 
ment of churning. It gives a very rich color, and may be 
used in winter-made butter with advantage. 



44 

MILK COOLERS. 

In order that milk may be properly preserved in its transit 
from the farm to the factory, milk coolers have been intro- 
duced among the farmers to cool the milk at the farm as fast 

Fig. 27. 
NATIONAL MILK COOLERS. 




PATENTED >.0V 2, 18G9, AND OCT 18, 1870, 

By A. P. BUSSET, Westernvnie, Oneida Co., K, T. 

as it is drawn from the cow. There is a great variety of these 
implements. We give figures of the National Milk Coolers, 
and the Monitor and Iron Clad Cans used for hauling milk to 
the factory. Cold water or ice may be used for the purpose in- 
dicated. 

Fig. 28. 




A. Cooler, for water (N) and ice (O). B. Cooler, arranged for introducing water by 
means of syphons E, E, fixing on tubes D, D. C. Cover. P. Strainer. G. Body of cooler. 
H, H. Carrying-cans witli coolers floating on the milk (M). 

SWINE. 

The keeping of swine to consume the whey or refuse slops 
resultiog from butter and cheese manufacture is considered a 



45 



necessary part of the dairy business. The hogs are either kept 
at the factory or upon the farm. "When kept at the factory, 
grounds are selected near the buildings, but so situated that 
offensive odors are out of the reach of the milk room and cur- 
ing department; and upon these grounds pens are erected and 
the whey-reservoir is placed. Usually the grounds are large 
enough to give the hogs sufficient space for a range in the open 
yard. The pens are arranged so that each patron of the facto ry 
can have a place for his swine separated from the rest. The 
patrons therefore may keep their hogs in separate pens or 
allow them to run in common. 



Fig. 29. 



Monitor Carrying Cans, for Milk. 




Fig. 30. 




Pipes are arranged so as to conduct the whey from t he res- 
ervoir to the troughs simply by opening the whey g ates or a 
faucet. By this arrangement the feeding troughs are so sup- 
plied that each animal gets its daily rations of whey. 

Each patron is allowed the keeping of one hog for every 
four or five cows from which he delivers milk. The propo rtion 
of hogs varies of course with the supply of whey. Patrons 



46 



who do not care to keep swine at the factory have the privi- 
lege of carting a certain amount of whey from the flictory to 
the farm, and feeding as desired. 

The difficulty of keeping the factory premises free from bad 
odors has induced many factory men to break up the pens and 
banish swine entirely from the establishment. In such cases 

Fig. 31. — Iron-Clad Carrying Can. 




the whey is run into a reservoir a considerable distance from 
the buildings, and patrons, after delivering milk, fill the carry- 
ing-cans with whey, and cart back to the farm. 

In feeding whey to swine, bran, ship-stuffs, or some kind of 
meal, should be mingled with the whey. When this is done a 



47 



good quality of pork is made, and considerable profits are 
often realized from the whey. We do not approve of feeding 
hogs entirely upon whey : it does not contain the elements of 
nutrition in the right proportion to preserve the animal in good 
health and make the best quality of pork. 

Hogs, it is true, will live on whey and take on fat, but the 
pork is soft, watery, and of inferior quality. It is doubtful 
whether such pork is a healthy article of food, as swine fed 
exclusively on such watery slop soon show symptoms of dis- 
ease. Still, many dairymen keep a portion of their hogs on 
whey alone, and sell in early fall to the butcher or packer. 

Blillar's P<itent Milk can Handle and Sink Caster. 

Fig. 33. 
Fig. 32. 





Absorbents, such as muck, sawdust, dry earth, etc., should 
be used freely about hog-pens to take up the liquid manures, 
and free the premises from disagreeable odors ; and this course 
is especially desirable when hogs are kept in connection with 
butter factories, or in the vicinity of the farm-dairy. In addi- 
tion to the benefits resulting from absorption and in keeping 
the air free from bad odors, another important advantage is 
gained in the increased quantity of manure. 

PHILADELPHIA BUTTER. 

In this connection, it may not be out of place to give a brief 
account of the manner of making Philadelphia butter, which 
has long held a very high reputation in America, and which 
often sells in Philadelphia at a dollar per pound. It is no bet- 



48 

ter in flavor and texture than fancy brands made at the butter 
factories of New York ; bat it is equally as good, and being 
put up in small rolls, or prints, and packed in refrigerators, it 
arrives in market as perfect as when it left the hands of the 
butter-maker. 

The best Philadelphia butter comes mainly from Chester, 
Lancaster and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania. 

The spring-house is about 18 feest by 24 feet, built of stone, 
with its foundation set deeply in the hill-sidn, tlie floor being 
about four feet below the level of the ground at the down hill- 
side. The floor is of oak, laid on sand or gravel ; this is flowed 
with spring-water to the depth of three inches, and at this 
height the flowing water passes out into a tank at the lower 
side of the spring-house. The milk, whan drawn from the 
cow, is strained in deep pans, which are set in the water upon 
the oaken floor. Raised platforms or walks are provided in 
the room for convenience in handling the milk. The walls of 
the spring-house are about ten feet high, and at the top oa each 
side are windows covered v/ith wire-cloth for ventilation. The 
depth of the milk in the pans is about three inches, and the 
flowing water which surrounds the pans maintains a tempera- 
ture of about 58 de ■. Fahrenheit. 

The milk is skimm.d after standing 24 hours, and the cream 
is put into deep vessels having a capacity of about 12 gallons. 
It is kept at a temperature of 58 deg. to 59 deg. until it ac- 
quires a slightly acid taste, when it goes to the churn. The 
churn is a barrel revolving on a journal in each head, and 
driven by horse-power. The churning occupies about an hour, 
and after the buttermilk is drawn off cold water is added and 
a few turns given to the churn, and the water then drawn off. 
This is repeated until the water as it is drawn off is nearly 
free from milkiness. The butter is worked with butter-work- 
ers, a dampened cloth meanwhile being pressed upon it to ab- 
sorb the moisture and free it of traces of buttermilk. The 
cloth is frequently dipped in cold spring water and wrung dry 
during the process of " wiping the butter." It is next salted 



49 

at the rate of an ouace of salt to three pounds of butter, thor- 
oughly and evenly incorporated by means of the butter-worker 
It is then removed to a table, where it is weighed out and put 
up into pound prints. After this, it goes into large tin trays, 
and is set in the water to harden, remaining until next morn- 
ing, when it is wrapped in damp cloths and placed upon 
shelves, one above another, in the tin-lined cedar tubs, with ice 
in the compartments at the ends, and thoi goes immediately 
to market. Matting is drawn over the tub, and it is surrounded 
again by oil-cloth so as to keep out the hot air and dust, and 
the butter arrives in market in prime condition, commandin>:>' 
from seventy-live cents to one dollar per pound. 

Mr. Isaac A.. Calvert, who markets his butter at these high 
prices at Philadelphia the year round, gives the following par- 
ticulars of his management in a communication to Mr. J. B. 
Lyman, of the New York Trihurie. He attributes his success 
to three points: 1st, the food of his cows; 2d, temperature- 
3d, neatness and dainty refinement at every step from the 
moment the milk flows from the udder till the dollar in cur- 
rency is paid for the pound of butter. He says, "I have found 
that I make my best butter when I feed on white clover and 
early-mown meadow hay. I cut fine, moisten, and mix in both 
corn-meal and wheaten shorts. Next to meal, I regard shorts 
and prefer to mix them together. I feed often, and not much 
at a time. I do not use roots, unless it be carrots. My pas- 
tures and meadows are quite free from weeds. I cannot make 
this grade of butter from foul pastures, or a low grade of hay. 

" Temperature. — This I regard as a matter of prime import- 
ance in making butter that commands a high price. Summer 
and winter I do not want my milk-room to vary much from 
58 deg. In summer I secure the requisite coolness by spring- 
water of the temperature of 55 deg. Fahrenheit flowing over stone 
or gravel floor in the milk-house. This can be accomplished 
without water in a shaded cellar ten feet deep. As good butter 
can be made without water as with, but the milk and cream 
must be kept at all times a little below 60 deg. 
D 



50 

" We skim very clean, stir the cream-pot whenever a skim- 
ming is poured in, and churn but once a week summer and 
winter. Just before the butter gathers we throw into the churn 
a bucket of ice-cold water. This hardens the butter in small 
pai tides and makes a finer grain. In the hot months this prac- 
tice is unvarying. 

"In working we get out all the buttermilk, but do not apply 
the hand. A better way is to absorb the drops with a linen 
cloth wrung from cold water. The first working takes out all 
the milk; at the second we handle delicately, with firgers as 
cool as may be. The salt is less than an ounce to a pound, but 
not generally much less. The balls each weigh one pound, and 
receive a uniform stamp. On packing for market, each ball is 
wrapped in a linen cloth, with the name and stall of the 
marketman written upon it. Our tubs are made of cedar- 
plank, 1 1-2 to 2 inches thick, and lined with tin. On the 
inner face are little projections on which the shelves rest. The 
balls are not bruised or pressed at all, and pass into the hands 
of the consumer as firm, as perfect in outline, and as spotless 
as when they left the spring-house. 

"We find tmiformity to be a prime virtue in the butter- 
maker. We produce the same article whether the cows stand 
knee-deep in white clover-blooms, or sun themselves on the 
lee-side of the barn in February. 

" There is a small ice-chamber at the end of the oblong tub 
which we use in summer, so that in dog-days the heat within 
the tub does not get higher than 60 deg. Fahrenheit. I need not 
add that we observe a scrupulous, a religious neatness in every 
act, and in every utensil of the dairy. Milk which upon 
leaving the udder passes through an atmosphere loaded with 
stable fumes, will never make butter for which we can get a 
dollar per pound. No milk sours upon the floor of the milk- 
room ; none is permitted to decompose in the crevices of the 
milk-pans ; the churn is scoured and scalded till no smell can 
be detected but the smell of white cedar. 

"Our customers take the napkins with the prints, wash. 



51 

iron, and return them when they come to the stand the butter- 
days. These are generally Wednesdays and Saturdays. With 
these prices we have no difficulty in making a cow pay for 
herself twice a year ; if she C3st 60 dollars, we se i 1 - ) io liars 
worth of butter from her in twelve months. 'g 

It may be remarked that the sour milk is employed by the 
Philadelphia butter-makers as a feed for swine. It is estimated 
that such milk will make 100 lbs. of pork per cow. 

The cows in the district where the Philadelphia butter is 
made are well sprinkled with the Jersey or Alderney blood, 
and about a pound per day from each cow is considered a fair 
average for the best dairies. 

crozier's milk cellar. 

A committee consisting of Mr. J. B. Lyman and Frank D. 
Curtis, from the American Institute Farmers' Club, recently 
visited the farm of Mr. William Crozier. The following re- 
port regarding a milk cellar seen on this farm, was presented by 
Mr. Lyman to the club. The walls are 36 x 18 feet, and it is 
divided into ice house, milk room and butter kitchen as in 
this plan, Two tubes or conductors go down from the upper 
part of the ice house. They are made of boards eight inches 
wide and ah inch thick, with holes bored in them. The holes 
allow the cold air to enter from the ice, and it pours in a stream 
from the mouth of the tube into the milk room. The temper- 
ature of the air as it comes out at the mouth of the tubes is 
about 85 degrees. As the milk room has thick walls and the 
windows are high, this flood of air at 35 degrees is able to 
lower the mercury to 62 degrees, and even lower, in July. 
Sometimes he closes one tube to keep the room from growing 
too cold. The draft is the strongest in the hottest weather. In 
spring and fall there is little current, and in winter, when the 
fire in the stove is constantly burning, the draft would be the 
other way. But then the mouths of the ice tubes are closed. 
By this arrangement the desired temperature is secured the 
season through^ and there is no difference between the June 



52 

butter and his January butter. He makes "June butter" the 
year round. 

The stone work was much of it d(ine by larm hands. The 
hemlock cost $20 per thousand, and the pine $80 to $85. 
The whole building cost him $650. He gets ten cents a pound 
over the highest market price. Making, say 200 pounds a 
week, his gain is $20 a week by having the best arrangement 
for butter making. 

Thus his milk house pays for itself every nine mor.ths, to 
say nothing of the greatly increased facilities for doing work 
afforded by a pumf), churn and stove so convenient. 

He consumes about a ton of anthracite in the four coldest 
months, and a slight allowance is to be made for wood used 
in summer to heat water for washing and scalding. Y(nir com- 
mittee could see nothing wrong, and much that was exactly 
right about this house and this system, and wher-^.ver ice 
forms to the thickness of three inches and over, it may confi- 
dently be recommended to every butter maker who milks a 
dozen cows. 

BUTTER AFFECTED WITH CASEINE. 

From a little manual published by the Messrs. Blanchards 
of Concord, N. H, and which they furnish to go with their 
churn, we find the following very sensible remarks: 

" The proportion of caseine remaining in butter, as ordinarily manufac- 
tured, is quite variable, depending upon the manner in which the cream is 
separated from the other portions of the milk. By the old method of set- 
ting milk in shallow pans and permitting currents of dry air to sweep across 
the surface of the milk, much caseine became dried to the cream so firmly 
as to be inseparable during all the after processes, finally becoming a por- 
tion of the butter. By the latter and more improved processes, with suffi- 
cient painstaking in the after manipulations, the proportion of caseine may 
be reduced to a mere trace. Upon this, and the proportion of the oleine 
and the neutral or flavoring fats, the quality of the butter depends, and to 
the accomplishment ot these two specific ends, he who would succeed must 
direct his efforts. 

" The increase of the fatty matter is dependent upon the feeding and care 
of the animal, and to that branch of our subject such allusion has been 
made as our space will permit. 



53 

" Setting and Cooling the Milk. — From time immemorial the practice of 
getting the milk in very shallow pans has prevailed, and the opinion was 
formerly believed established, that only through a shallow mass of milk 
could the cream rise to the surface. This practice had its origin in the ne- 
cessity for cooling the milk soon after it is drawn from the cow, to prevent 
its souring before the cream could rise, and not, as has been very erroneously 
inferred, from any difficulty about the rising of the cream. Hundreds or 
even thousands of experiments have been conducted with the view to per- 
manently settle this question, and we have yet to learn of the first one 
which has not resulted in sustaining the principle that with proper appara- 
tus for cooling, it is of no possible consequence how deep the milk is set for 
the purpose of raising the craam. 

" The cooling of the milk is of the first importance. It contains within 
itself the elements of decay, and when left to itself fermentation and putre- 
faction speedily ensue. But by reducing the temperature to about 58° or 
60°, the process is retarded, not prevented, and time is afforded the cream 
to rise before the other parts of the milk become so changed in their struc- 
ture as to entangle and hold the oily portion of the cream. But precisely 
the same effect may be produced by the application of heat, and we not un- 
frequently hear it recommended. In this case, however, the very important 
circumstance, that the oils which flavor the butter become volatilized and 
escape, is quite overlooked. 

" It is believed, then, to be practically settled, that the best results are at- 
tained by reducing the temperature of the milk as soon as practicable, after it 
is drawn, to about 58° F. The milk should be placed in the vessels where it 
is to remain before the cooling is commenced, that the rising of the cream 
may not be retarded by subsequent agitation. The only really practicable 
method of cooling the milk, without agitating it, is to place it in compara- 
tively narrow vessels, and surround them with cold water, as high or higher 
than the surface of the milk within. It is idle to attempt to cool milk or 
any other fluid by the application of any cooling substance to the bottom. 
If the vessel itself be of a material which is a good conductor, it is a little 
help, but the process is at best slow and unsatisfactory. 

" We make the rule that milk should be set in vessels placed in water, 
and the temperature reduced as soon as may be, to about 58° F., but that 
the temperature of the room should be about 65° or 70° F. 

" The form of the vessels is not material, if only they be so narrow that 
the cooling is effected in season to prevent the souring of the milk before 
the cream has risen. 

" The most economical arrangement of which we have any knowledge, 
consists of a long, narrow tank, with a jacket of tin for the cold water. The 
most approved form is 8 inches broad, 11 inches deep, and 6 feet long, 
which is made from a single large sheet of tin, without seam or solder, ex- 
cept where the end and jacket are attached. If more than one is required to 
hold the milk at each milking, they should be placed side by side in the 



54 

same frame or sink. In this case it is more economical to dispense with 
the jacket and use a wooden vat for the water. 

" There is, in this form of vessel, a verj' large sa\'ing in the cream which 
adheres to the sides of the smaller style of vessels ; but the economy of 
labor in the cleansing and care of the vessels is really the greatest of all. 

" Whatever the form of the milk vessels, running water is the best and 
most economical agent to be employed in cooling the milk. Well water 
answers a very good pvirpose, but the labor of raising it is sometimes a bar 
to its successful use. 

" Ice should never be used in butter-making in any of its departments, 
except to reduce the temperature of water, and then it is well to bewai'e of 
ice cold water. The immediate contact of ice with milk, cream or butter, 
does in some manner not well understood, exert a disorganizing eflPect, and 
the product is permanently injured thereby. 

" When and how to Shim. — Milk cooled and set as has been recommended, 
will keep sweet as long as is necessary for the cream to rise, however warm 
the room; and the time for removing the cream may be subordinated to the 
convenience of the dairyman. The more convenient and profitable time will 
generally be found to be from 24 to 30 hours after setting. It should not, 
in any case, be deferred until the milk begins to turn sour. 

" The old form of skimmer, required to separate a film of cream almost as 
tough as a leather apron from a body of hard loppered milk, is not adapted to 
the removal of the cream that rises on milk cooled as above described. The 
cream, under these genial influences, having been constantly parting with 
its caseine instead of becoming encased in it, is in a condition of fluidity and 
must be removed by dipping instead of skimming. The most approved im- 
plement for this purpose is made of tin in the form of a cone, and holds 
about a pint. The small end should be made pointed. The edges of the 
large end should be left sharp, and not be rolled or wired. An upright, 
straight handle should be attached to the lai-ge end of the cone. When 
used it should be pushed perpendicularly down through the cream into the 
milk, until the cream runs in on all sides at the same time. If some of the 
milk is taken with the cream, no injurious result will follow ; indeed many 
good butter-makers prefer taking enough, so that the cream may not become 
too stiff during the operation of churning. 

" Cream may be kept several days, if necessary, but it is better, as a rule, to 
churn every second or third day. The practice which has acquired among 
many, of keeping cream several days, and drugging it from time to time 
with saltpetre or something else, can not be commended. 

" When milk sours, it is because of the formation of lactic acid from the milk 
sugar. This chemical change is the result of the growth of a microscopic vege- 
table organism, which, according to Hallier's late investigations, is of the 
same origin as common yeast. Like common yeast, this plant requires oxygen 
for its development. This it gathers from the air if the latter have access ; 



55 

but in tlie comparative absence of air, as when growing in milk, it decom- 
poses the sugar, and a lactic acid is the chief result of this metamorphosis. 
If milk, which by short exposure to the air has had the microscopic germs 
of the ferment-plant sown in it, be then excluded from the air as much as 
possible, the plant, in its growth, is necessitated to decompose the milk 
sugar, and hence the milk rapidly sours. On the other hand, exposure to 
the air supplies the ferment-plant with free oxygen, and the mUk remains 
sweet for a longer period. Such is the theory of the change. That low 
temperature should prevent souring, is in analogy with all we know of 
chemical changes. 

" Stirring the cream does not promote souring, but rathers hinders it by 
increasing access of air ; it may be advantageous in making the souring 

uniform. 

Firj. 34. Millan & Son's Milk Pails. 




Fig. 35. 



" When to (Jhwi'u. — Although the milk should never be permitted to sour 
before skimming, the cream, on the other hand, should become slightly 
acid before churning. To accomplish this end most expeditiously, the tem- 
perature may be raised slightly ; keeping it in the warm milk room will 
usually suffice ; but previous to putting it in the churn it should be again 
cooled, according to the quality of the cream. If it be rich summer cream 
55° is most favorable ; if it be the product of short, poor feed, or of straw, or 
of roots, or if the cows have been exposed to cold storms, and under the 
necessity of exhausting the oleine of the butter, the temperatui'e must be 
raised to correspond ; and it may even require so much heating that little 
of the butter flavor will remain. For all ordinary cases the range may be 
set down as from 55° to 65°." 

MILK PAILS. 

The importance of using milk pails that will not absorb 



56 



paints and whicb can be easily cleaned, can not be over-esti- 
mated. 

Wooden pails should never be used for milk, because of 
the difficulty of keeping them in order. 

Chas. Millan & Son, of Utica, N. Y., have recently brought 
out a superior tin milk pail, a cut of which we give in the 
figures on the preceding page. 

They are made in the best possible manner, from four-cross 
tin, imported on purpose for them, have but one seam in the 
body of the pail, and are soldered very smoothly. A tinned 
malleable iron rim or band is soldered firmly to the bottom en- 
closing it, and is so constructed as to thoroughly protect and 
support it and to raise it sufficiently to prevent it from resting 
on the floor and from picking up the dirt ; it is also convenient 
for tipping the pail. The wire in the upper edge of the pail is 
enclosed by the tin and then soldered so that it cannot rust. 



Fig. 36.— 7to?2- Clad Pail. 



The pail is made from the 
l^est tinned wire. 

The Iron Clad Co. of 
New York city makes a 
very substantial pail with 
convex bottom, upon which 
are rests to keep it out of 
ihe dirt, which ensures clean- 
liness in this part. The ac- 
companying cut shows the 
form of this pail. 



SCALES. 

Another important requisite for the dairy is a convenient and 
Fig Sl.—Famih/ Scales. accurate pair of scales. 

Edward F. Jones, of Bingham- 
ton, N. Y, manufactures a very 
desirable article in this line. The 
Universal or Family Scale, of which 
we give a cut, has both platform and 





67 




scoop, and combines all the advantages of a portable and 
counter scale. Its capacity is from 1-2 ounce to 240 pounds, 
Fig. as. —Platform Scales, and is best adapted to the purposes of 
the butter dairy, or when any light 
article is to be weighed. 

The 600 pound portable platform 
scale on wheels is the size usually 
used in cheese factories. The accom- 
panying figure represents it. 

In cheese manufacture, especially 
where the milk is liable to become changed or is not deliv- 
ered in good order, the curd mill is of great service. 

Butter factories should always be provided with this 
machine if skim cheese is made in connection with butter. 
One of the best curd mills made is the American, manufactured 
by Wm. Ealph & Co., of Utica. It has a double cylinder, and 
being provided with a heavy balance wheel is worked with 
greater ease and more efficiency than some mills. We give 
an illustration of the mill in the following cut : 

Fig. 39. — The American Curd Mill. 




TH'd BUTTER DAIRIES OF CALIFORNIA. 

In 1870 I crossed the continent and made an examination 
of some of the butter making districts on the Pacific. My ob- 



58 

servations were given in a series of articles in Moore's 
EuEAL New Yorker, from which I select and quote the fol- 
lowing : 

The Coast Range of California^ etc. — California is estimated 
to contain within its boundaries 189,000 square miles. About 
50,000 square miles are supposed to cover the entire range of 
coast- vallejs and mountains. 

There are large tracts of country on the coast range adapted 
to grazing and the dairy, though, taking the whole state to- 
gether, I was told the dairy lands were of comparatively limi- 
ted extent. One great advantage which the coast lands pos- 
sess is a low, even temperature — a temperature averaging 
about 60 deg. Farenheit during summer and winter, and subject 
to no extremes of heat and cold, like that prevailing in the 
middle and north Atlantic states. The winters are so mild 
that cattle do not require to be housed, and during most of 
the time can procure sufficient sustenance in the field. In- 
deed, cattle are often wintered without a particle of food other 
than that which they pick for themselves over the ranches — 
though it is not generally considered good economy to allow 
the herds to thus shift for themselves during the first part of 
the rainy season, since the rain washes out the nutritive ele- 
ments of the old grasses, while the new vegetation springing 
up, is flashy, or too immature to afford the requisite nourish- 
ment for the thrilt and well-being of the animal. Hence in 
November and December it is considered good economy to 
eke out the pastures by giving the herds a daily allowance of 
fodder. 

The Climate^ Grasses, etc. — To understand fully how stock is 
fed in California some explanation of the seasons and the char- 
acter of herbage found upon the ranches will be required. If 
we except the higher mountainous ranges, the California year 
may be divided into two seasons only — the wet and dry. The 
rains begin to fall during the latter part of October and con- 
tinue during November and December. The moisture is suffi- 
cient to start vegetation into a vigorous growth. Green past- 



59 

urage is abundant in Jauuarj, February," March, April, and 
up to about the first of June and July. Then comes the dry 
season, during which no rain falls until the latter part of Oc- 
tober or first of November, and sometimes it holds off until 
December. 

Most of the native grasses are annuals. The wild oat grass 
and bunch grass are regarded of most value. The Gramma, 
or bunch grass is exceedingly nutritious. Stock thrive upon 
it at all seasons, except, perhaps, at the beginning of Ihc rainy 
season, when, for a few weeks, its nutritiousness is impaired 
from the causes which have been previously explained. 

In July and August, it as well as all others, becomes dry 
and brown, and the fields present hardly a vestage of green. 
Indeed, the fields are so devoid of any green or growing plant, 
and the tufts of grass are so brown and dried up that the east- 
era stock-grower can scarcely rid himself of the impression 
that the whole country is of little, if any, value for grazing, 
and would supply only a meager sustenance for a few goats ; 
and yet immense herds are seen cropping this withered, dead, 
or perfectly dry, crisp herbage, and the animals look sleek and 
fat, and fit for the shambles. Nothing astonished me more 
than this seemingly incongruous state of things;, for to an 
eastern farmer, fat cattle at pasture are always associated with 
luxurious vegetation and an abundance of succulent food. It 
is true, along the borders of streams, in the narrow valleys or 
deep gorges, a fringe of green breaks the monotony of the 
dead and apparently worthless vegetation, covering the hills, 
and stretching away to the distance on the plains ; but these 
are scarcely sufficient to account for the uniformly fine condi- 
tion of stock. 

It becomes evident, therefore, that from the peculiarity of 
the climate, and perhaps from the nature of the plants them- 
selves, their nutritive elements are retained; and that the 
standing grass in the field is cured as perfectly for food in a 
natural way as farmers at the east do it by artificial means. 
And this is more readily explained from the entire absence of 



60 

rains, the dryness of the atmosphere, and the uniform temper- 
ature of the climate. Evidently, in case of the bunch grass, 
which grows m dense tufts, the dry weather coming on arrests 
the further growth of a mass of foliage, thoroughly curing it 
upon the root before its nutritive elements have been lost or 
changed into woody fibre, while a large proportion of those 
stalks bearing seed have also been checked in growth and 
dried in time to retain a large proportion of nutrition. 

In comparing California, as a dairy region, with grazing 
lands on the Atlantic slope, the v^ inter and spring months cor- 
respond with our best grazing season. From the first of Janu- 
ary to June, the grasses grow in great luxuriance. July, Au- 
gust and September, correspond with our fall and early winter, 
while November and December, when stock require a little 
feed, may be ^et against our six months of cold and snowy 
weather. It is evident, so far as climate is concerned — so far 
as the storing of cattle-food and the necesi>ary breadth of land 
for growing such food, the advantages are all in favor of the 
Pacific. But on the other hand, our nearness to the markets 
of the world, the permanency of our grasses, our established 
system and skill in manufacture, must, in a measure, compen- 
sate for the rigors of the climate, and other disadvantages 
which do not obtain in more favored sections. 

Comparative Profit froin Grazing Lands. — From what I saw 
of California, and California farming, I became strongly im- 
pressed with the idea that the grazing lands of the state, for 
stock-growing and the dairy, can be made to pay quite as 
largely as lands devoted to almost any other special agricul- 
tural interest. Fruit trees of all kinds grow with great rapid- 
ity, and produce enormously. But, at present, the markets 
are limited, and the supply so much beyond consumption that 
there is no profit in fruit-growing. 

I saw peach trees producing choice varieties of fruit, (only 
across the bay from San Francisco, and where daily transport 
of fruit could be made for a mere trifle), that were paying 
nothing to the owner beyond affording food for swine, the fall- 



61 

iDg frait being carted out for that purpose. The product of 
large apple orchards is often left to rot on the ground, or a por- 
tion only of the fruit converted into cider for vinegar. 

The vinej^ards, car, perhaps, be made to pay well tor wine, 
since the climate and soil are so wonderfully adapted to grape 
culture that grapes can be grown at a mere trifling expense. 

Tlie Largest Butter Dairy Estate in the World. — But I set out 
to speak of some of the dairy lands visited, and perhaps a 
brief description of the Howard k Shafter Eanche will be of 
interest. This is probably the largest butter dairy estate in 
the world. It is at least the largest that has come under my 
own immediate observation, whether in this country or in Eu- 
rope. 

Some general idea of its extent may be gathered from the 
fact that it has a coast range of fifty miles, and contains seven- 
ty-five thousand acres. About one hundred miles of fence 
have been erected on this estate at a cost of $400 per mile. It 
is located in Marin county, at Point Keyes. 

Marin county lies directly north of San Francisco and the 
Golden Gate. At the northwest point of the county Toma- 
lis Bay, a long, narrow body of water extends southward, and 
is nearly met by Sir Francis Drake's Bay pushing northward. 
This makes a neck of land, which has the appearance on the 
map of projecting into the ocean. Now, by extending a line 
in a southeasterly direction from Tomalis Bay toward San 
Francisco, so as to give us a strip of country on the east coast 
of Sir Francis Drake's Bay, we have on the west of this line 
and bounded by the two bays and the ocean the famous Point 
Reyes Ranche. 

The character of the country over the Point Reyes estate 
may be described as a succession of hills and valleys. In some 
places there are large, level tracts. Good roads have been 
made over the lands, and as the carriage winds over the hills 
and through the canyons the scenery is most picturesque and 
charming. The climate here is delightfully cool and refresh- 
ing. Fanned by the breezes of the Pacific, the temperature 



62 

scarcely ever rises above 65° or sinks below 50°, while the 
average through the year is not far from 60°. 

Bunch grass, wild oats, and other natural grasses, grow in 
great luxuriance, and are depended upon as pasture for stock. 

About three thousand cows are in milk on the estate, and 
they are divided up into twenty-one dairies, averaging about 
one hundred and fifty cows to each. The different farms or 
ranches are substantially fenced with red wood pickets six feet 
long, driven into the ground about six or eight inches apart, 
with a rail placed horizontally about two feet from the top to 
which each picket is nailed. As there is no frost here, these 
fences keep their position, and will stand without needing re- 
pair for twenty years. Generally, each ranche has interior 
fences dividing the land into four fields. 

Mr. Howard states that he commenced improving his stock 
about the year 1858 hj crossing common eastern cows with 
two thoroughbred Short-Horn bulls of good milking family 
brought from Vermont at a cost of $10,000. 

One ot the Vermont bulls was an exceedingly fine one, and 
his stock proved to be excellent milkers. 

A year or two after, twenty-two head of Devon cattle were 
purchased and introduced among the herds. This breed did 
not prove satisfactory, and it was discarded, and in 1865 he 
commenced again with the Short-Horns, raising annually one- 
fifth of the calves from the best cows. In this way the stock 
has been improved so that a good flow of milk is obtained. 

Size of Stock Influenced hy the Surface of the Country. — I have 
stated that the Point Eeyes estate was broken up into 
numerous hills and valleys. Many of the hills almost approach 
the dignity of mountains. Their sides are rounded, and do not 
generally present an abrupt surface, but are of a sufficient 
inclination to be readily reached in all their parts by cattle. 
This uneven surface, requiring the climbing of hills and descent 
into valleys in quest of food, has had a strongly-marked influ- 
ence on the size and form of the stock. The animals are quite 
small for Short-Horns, and apparently more active than is 



63 

usual for that breed, showing, in a very marked degree, what 
a controlling influence the surface of a country has in mould- 
ing the form of animals. The stock I found universally in fine 
condition as to flesh, and in every respect it appeared to be in 
vigorous health ; but the smallness in size was a point of 
interest to me, as showing how animals bred for several 
generations in a hilly country gradually adapt themselves to 
the surfaces over which they are compelled to travel in quest 
of food. 

It seemed to me that the Ayrshires were the kind of cattle 
best adapted to this locality, and I strongly advised an infusion 
of this strain of blood among the herds of Point Reyes. 

System of Rentals. — The management of so large an estate is 
not without difficulties. Eecently Mr. Howard has introduced 
a system of rentals, which relieves the proprietors from a vast 
amount of care and vexation. With the exception of what is 
termed the " HomeRanche," all the places are rented at a fixed 
rate per cow. The general features of this rental are as fol- 
lows : The landlord furnishes land, cows and buildings, mak- 
ing the rent at $30 per cow. The tenant is required to raise 
one fifth of the calves, and build or keep in repair certain 
fences, the landlord furnishing the material. All implements 
of husbandry and dairy utensils are furnished by the tenant. 
The dairies, on an average, make about one hundred and eighty 
pounds of butter per cow, which is sent to San Francisco, and 
commands from thirty-three to thirty-five cents per pound. 

Quality of Baiter. — The butter made at Point Reyes is good, 
and dealers in San Francisco informed me that it was the best 
that was brought into the market. The texture, when well 
made, is exceedingly fine, being more waxy in its consistency 
than much of the butter of New York. With the same skill 
as that exercised in the butter factories of Orange county, I 
should say that the very finest fancy product could be obtained. 
The low, even temperature of the climate favors the obtaining 
of milk in the best possible condition. The water is soft and 



64 

pure, and the feed is said to be sweet and free from plants that 
give a taint to milk. 

Tlie Dairies. — I visited quite a number of dairies, traveling, 
in all, nearly a hundred miles over the estate. The dwellings 
are neat and substintial, each place provided with dairy house, 
corrals for enclosing cattle, and sheds and barns for storing 
fodder. The cows are milked in the open yard, and the 
milkers empty the milk into a receptacle outside the building, 
from whence it is strained and flows into a receiving can in the 
milk room. From this it is drawn through a faucet into pans, 
which are immediately set upon the racks. Water, either con- 
ducted by pipes from springs, or pumped into reservoirs, is in 
the corrals, and supplies the dair3^ The temperature of the 
milk rooms is scarcely ever above 65**, and artificial heat is 
more frequently required in the milk rooms than too high a 
temperature resulting from natural causes. I saw the process 
of butter making in all its stages, but perhaps a detailed 
description of the work at two or three ranches may be suf- 
ficient to give the reader some general idea as to the manner 
in which California dairies are managed. 

On the Point Eeyes estate several of the dairy establish- 
ments, or farm buildings, are located in the canyons or valleys ; 
though whure there are large, level tracts of land and con- 
veniences of running water, advantage is taken of the situation 
to establish " headquarters " for the rancho. The tenants, or 
those managing the several ranches, are mostly from New 
England or INew York, 

In some cases unmarried men with Chinese house-servants 
carry on the establishment ; but usually married men with 
their families are located here. At one point I found a school 
for the education of the children, taught by a genuine New 
England " school mistress," who received $30 per month and 
board for services. During my trip I not unfrequently saw 
" little lassies " going and returning from school mounted on 
mustang ponies. Regular water communication is soon to be 



65 

established between Point Reyes and San Francisco, which, of 
course, will render the estate less isolated. 

A few days before my arrival, a division of the estate had 
been made between the three partners, which gives each some 
25,000 acres of land. In the division, that portion lying upon 
Sir Francis Drake's Bay falls to Mr. Howard. The point at the 
head of the bay is exceedingly lovely, the harbor is excellent, 
and the level stretch of land back from the shore seems to be 
admirably adapted to the location of a town or city. Indeed, 
the natural advantages for a town at this point are so great, 
that the time cannot be far distant when this spot will be uti- 
lized for that purpose. 

Muddy Hollow. — The buildings here are substantial and con- 
veniently arranged. The dairy house, or milk-room, stands on 
one side of the corral, and is twenty-four feet square. Racks 
are arranged along the sides of the room for setting the milk — 
the pans resting on slats in tiers, one above the other. The 
cows are milked in the corral or open yard, and as fast as each 
milker fills his pail, he carries it to a platform on one end of 
the milk-room, where it is emptied into a receiving conductor 
provided with a strainer, from whence it flows into a large tin 
can in the milk-room. In this way the floor of the milk-room 
is not soiled by the feet of the milkers, and slops and dirt are 
avoided in straining the milk. The milk is drawn from the 
can through a faucet, each pan getting about half a gallon of 
milk, or a quantity sufficient to set in the pan from two and a- 
half to three inches deep. 

Management of Milk. — The climate here is so cool that the 
temperature of the milk-room does not rise above 65°, and in 
summer it is often so cool that a little fire is necessary in the 
room to keep the milk at the desired temperature for the 
cream to rise. The milk usually stands about forty-eight 
hours, and is allowed to get slightly acid before skimming. 
The pans are then removed to a bench in the center of the 
room, the cream loosened on the edges of the pan by running 
E 



66 

a thin wooden blade around it, when the pan is canted up, and 
the cream flows off into a large tin cream can. The milk then 
goes into a slop reservoir on the bench, arranged with pipe at 
the bottom for conducting it off to vats away from the build- 
ing, where it is to be used for the feeding of swine. The por- 
tion of conducting pipe in the milk room is arranged in a 
double curve, or Y, so that in cleansing the water remaining 
in the curve prevents gases from passing through into the 
room from below. 

Chums and Churning. — Churning is done every day by 
horse power, a common lever power located outside the build- 
ing being employed here as well as at the other dairies. Mus- 
tangs are attached to the lever and put the machine in motion 
by travelling round and round in a circle. An oblong box 
churn is used. The ends are twenty-seven inches square and 
the length of the box is five feet. It hangs horizontally upon a 
frame supported by two iron gudgeons at the ends of the box, 
and upon which it revolves. On one side of the box there is 
a door, which opens to receive the cream, when it is closed and 
the churning accomplished by set " g the power in mofiou and 
revolving the box. The temperature of the cream when it goes 
to the churn is about sixty-two degrees, and churning is usually 
perfected in from one-half to three-quarters of an hour. The 
butter, when it comes from the churn, is washed in soft water, 
worked and salted at the rate of one ounce of salt to the pound 
of butter, when it is set aside until next day and then worked 
a second time and packed for market. It is manipulated but 
very little at the second working, just enough to get it into 
shape. 

Butter - Worker. — The butter- worker at these establishments 
struck me as a very handy appliance. It consists of a heavy 
oak slab, in a perfect circle, about three and a-halffeet in diam- 
eter, set at an inclination, so as to allow the buttermilk to pass 
off, and revolving on rollers arranged in a standard which sup- 
ports it in the center. At the lower end of the machine, just 
beyond the circular plank, there is an upright, at the top of 



67 

which is fastened a metal socket for the reception of the lever 
used in working the butter. This socket works on a iiniversal 
joint, so as to be moved in any direction. A plank with groove 
near the outer edges, is arranged below the circular slab to 
catch the buttermilk and moisture flowing from the butter 
during the process of working, and it is also slightly inclined, 
so that all slops pass off along the grooves and are deposited 
in a tub. By this arrangement, it will be seen the circular slab 
or bed of the butter worker can be moved backward or forward 
on the p^ane of its circle, while the universal joint to which 
the lever is attached, allows the lever to be handled in any 
direction. These butter workers are the most convenient of 
of the kind of any I have seen, and can be profitably introduced 
into some of our New York butter factories. 

Molding and Packing. — The butter is put up and sent to 
market in two forms — in barrels, half barrels, and in two pound 
rolls placed in packages. The barrels are of oak, nicely made 
and strongly hooped. They hold about two hundred and 
twenty-eight pounds of butter. The butter is packed solid, 
the cask headed, and brine as strong as it can be made is pour- 
ed in to fill up all the interstices. Butter going to market in 
this way brings from two to three cents less price per pound 
than that put up in rolls. The rolls are made three inches in 
diameter and nearly seven inches long. A mold is used for 
the purpose of forming the rolls, and it has two iron bandies 
crossing each other on a pivot, and worked like a pair of nip- 
pers. Thti molds being opened a bit of butter is nipped up 
sufficient to fill the mold, and by pressing the two arms or 
handles together a powerful leverage is brought to bear upon 
the butter mold, compressing the butter into a solid roll 
Then with a thin wooden knife, or paddle, the ragged points 
of butter which have been forced out on either end of the 
mold, are cut off even with the mold and smoothed down, 
and the instrument opened, when out drops a neat roll of but 
ter, weighing just two pounds. The whole mass having been 
rapidly molded in this way, and the rolls dropped upon the 



68 

table, the next process is to wrap each roll in cloth. Fine thin 
bleached cambric, cut in strips of the desired length to go 
round each roll, and wide enough to leave about half an inch 
projection of cloth at each end of the roll, are moistened in 
strong biine and placed upon the table. Then one of the 
strips is spread out, the roll of butter laid on one edge and 
rapidly rolled forward, the cloth adhering smoothly to the 
package. The cloth on the ends is now pressed down in place, 
and you have a dainty little roll in neat white muslin wrap- 
pers, with a little golden circle at the ends to show its texture 
ami quality. Then the rolls are set on end in an oblong box 
of cedar or red wood, the cover fastened down, and thus they 
go ti) market. 

The wholesale price for butter, put up in rolls, has ranged 
from thirty-three to thirty-five cents per pound when it arrives 
at San Francisco. 

The Stock. — In the Muddy Hollow dairy there were one 
hundred and sixty-six cows in milk. I found the cows in 
fine condition as to fle.^h, notwithstanding the feed upon the 
hills was brown, dry and crisp. Mr. Hagertf, the manager, 
stated that in " flush ot feed," when cows were doing their 
best, the average yield of butter per day was one and one- 
fourth pounds per cow. The cows have a large range, and it 
struck me as somewhat difficult to collect all the animals to- 
gether in the corral, night and morning, since the numerous 
hills and valleys must be looked over to find loitering beasts ; 
but I was assured that there was seldom any trouble from miss- 
ing animals. At milking time two persons, mounted upon 
mustangs, are sent out to collect the herd together. Each 
driver has his beat or ra^nge to look over, and the mustangs 
scour the hills and valleys, starting the cows into line ; and as 
the drivers are responsible for missing cows, and are discharged 
for neglect in bringing them to the corral, they become ex- 
ceedingly expert and sharp in looking over their range that no 
animals are left behind. 



69 

Character of Butter. — At this as at other ranches, I tested 
nothing but fresh or newly made butter. The color was a 
light yellow, but much deeper than could have been expected 
from the dry and brown feed. The distinguished characteris- 
tic of all the butter I saw, was its solid, waxy texture. The 
flavor was fair, but it had less of that peculiar aroma which 
the finer fancy samples of New York butter possess. This 
may have been attributable to the condition of dry feed in 
part, and perhaps in part to the manner of manufacturing. 

1 tested the milk and buttermilk in numerous instances and 
found it of excellent flavor, and in no instance could I detect 
a taint or anything objectionable in flavor. I should say that 
such milk, in such a cool even climate, ought to make, if prop- 
erly manipulated, the finest quality of both butler and cheese. 

The Home Rancho. — This ranchio is about ten miles west of 
Olema, a small village on the road to San Eafael. It contains 
three thousand acres, has four hundred and thirteen cows and 
one hundred and fifty-eight horses — mustangs, roadsters and 
lasso horses — including an imported English stallion, a thor- 
oughbred racer. 

Mr. Nichols, the very intelligent foreman of this establish- 
ment, informed ine that there were about two thousand head 
of beef cattle connected with this ranclio, or under his man- 
agement, and four hundred heifers, which were being raised 
for cows. The beef cattle go to market at San Francisco, and 
other parts of the state, at three years old and upward, bring- 
ing from $40 to $60 per head. 

The buildings at the Home rancho are commodious and 
more extensive than at some of the other places. They a^e 
situated in a lovely little valley, surrounded by round hills, 
over which the cattle roam and feed. 

Butter is made here, as at the other dairies, and the applian- 
ces and mode of manufacture are similar to what has been pre- 
viously described. From twelve to fourteen n en are employed 
on the rancho, and they get at the rate of $3( per month and 
board, for a period of six months, or during the busy season. 



70 

The hay here, like all California hay, consists of oats cut 
while the straw is green. About one hundred tons have been 
harvested during the present year, and this quantity has been 
grown on fifty acres. 

Growing the Hay Ci-op. — Mr. Nichols says he begins to plow 
for the oat crop in November, sowing in December at the rate 
of one hundred and fifty pounds of seed to the acre. The 
crop is cut with mowing machines just before the oats have 
ripened, and as no rains fall during harvest time, the curing of 
the crop is accomplished in the most perfect manner. Upon 
this rancho they commence feeding stock in August and up to 
November, or until the rains begin to fall and fresh grass is 
started. The feeding" in August is only occasional, and de- 
pends altogether upon the weather. If the weather is windy, 
so that stock cannot feed in comfort on the hills, an allowance 
of oat hay is given ; but in mild weather, when the animals 
can get about over the range, no extra food is given. Beets are 
also raised here in considerable quantities for cattle food. They 
are cut up, roots and tops together, and each cow in niilk gets 
a pail full per day. Stock run out over the rancho all winter, 
and during some seasons no extra food is required. 

Cows commence dropping their calves in December, and 
continue till March, at which time it is desired that they should 
all be in m,lk. 

Usually it takes the labor of four men to care for the stuck 
on this rancho. 

Here, as upon other ranchos, the " bunch grass," or gramma, 
is depended upon for pasturage. It grows with great viL-or at 
all seasons, when there is sufficient moisture. It is enduring, 
and cattle prefer it to any other grass, thriving upon it, whether 
it be green, or crisp and brown, daring dry weather. 

The sour milk and buttermilk go to the hogs, a considera- 
ble number of which are thus fattened for market. They are 
sold on foot when ready fcr market, and brmg from six to eight 
cents per pound. 



This mncbo is substantially fenced in, with red wood pick- 
ets, and the stock I found in remarkable thrifty condition. 

I spent a night at the home rancho, and the two young Chi- 
namen cooks served up repasts as toothsome as the famous 
cooking at the Occidental. It is true, the courses were not so 
elaborate, but the meats, and a great variety of vegetables, 
were dished up in a manner that would have delighted the 
most fastidious "good liver." And here a word may not be 
out of place in reference to 

Chinese Servants — Everywhere in which they came under 
my observatiou, I found them neat, attentive, respectful, quick 
to anticipate one's wants, quiet in manner, and altogether 
"filling the bill in full," of what is understood by a good ser- 
vant. The better class in San Francisco, who have had abund- 
ant opportunity of testing their faithfulness and capacity in 
the various relations of household work, are unbounded in 
their praise. They make excellent cooks, are unsurpassed as 
laundresses, and learn the ways and requirements of household 
work with a rapidity that is perfectly astonishing. And I could 
not help thinking what a vast relief it would be to the dairy- 
men of central New York, if this class of labor could be in- 
troduced. Now, all through the dairy districts of the east, it 
is extremely difficult to obtain male and female labor except 
of the mc st inferior kind. The cost, too, of labor is excessive 
and eats up the entire profits of many a man's farm. Hund- 
reds of farmers are mere slaves to hired help — help that are 
indeed " lords of the manor " — who will not work unless they 
are watched ; j7ho take delight in wasting and destroying their 
employer's property; who are brutal to all animal life under 
tbeir control or entrusted to their charge, and who hang like a 
dead weight upon the farmer's family, because they cannot be 
dispensed with. 

Go among the farmers to-day through central New York, 
and hear how gladly they would rid themselves of this incu- 
bus, and do all the work on the farm with their own hands, if 
it were possible to do so. Not that they are unwilling to pay 



72 

for labor, but because tbej are obliged to pay for inefficiency — 
vexed, tortured in mind and body, and made slaves to the help 
they hire. 

There is no place here to discuss Chinese immigration in its 
moral and social aspect, but the question of labor is growing 
every year and every day moro and more intricate and difficult 
to be solved, and there iij am;iii^ farmor ; .in irrepressible desire 
for relief. 

Tlirowing the Lariat and i atching Wild Cattle in Califor- 
nia. — We rise in " the gray dawn " and breakfast early, on 
the morning of August 2d, far Olin was to have a new four- 
horse team from the rancho and drive us out on the plains 
among the wild cattle ; following Mr. Nichols and a band of 
old Californians mounted upon mustangs, and each armed with 
the lariat. This meant sport, and Olin drew his lines and 
handled his long lash in a way that plainly indicated there 
was to be no " small driving," so Laig as he filled the box. 

I had had a taste of "break-neck speed" the day before, 
down steep declivities, along the edge of mountains where a 
foot's deviation from the track would have plunged carriage 
and horses in a shapeless mass below, making our hair stand 
on end at the reckless way he turned a corner or passed a ten- 
mule team on the edge of a precipice. But Mr. Howard as- 
sured us that "Olin's head was level," and that we were safe 
in his hands. So we shut our eyes over the worst places, and 
heard the whip crack and felt the carriage sweep and sway as 
it plunged after the galloping horses and slackened speed only 
at the next ascent. 

And so this morning we dashed along over mountains, and 
down into deep canyons, until we struck a broad plain in sight 
of the cattle, and here we halted. Then we saw in the dis- 
tance, the wild bulls, with flying tails, rushing over the plain, 
pursued by the horsemen. Now they plunge into the tall 
grass, and again the scamper and hurry of feet is heard as the 
horsemen turn the herd in the direction of the carriage. On 
they sweep in a body, led by a famous red bull, fleet as the 



73 

wind. The men urge forward their mustangs, dashing " pell 
mell" for the leading bullock. One of the horsemen is now 
ahead. We see him swing the lariat ; but he is yet too far 
back of the frightened bull. Onward they come, the horse 
steadily gaining, and now the lariat swings round and round, 
and then shoots forward. Has he caught him? Yes ! — No ! 

"By George! sir," the lasso is over his horns; but the end 
of the cord has been jerked from the rider's hands, and the 
bull bounds along uncaught. Then the race is pushed faster 
and faster, and the horseman is seen swaying over and almost 
touching the ground. He has caught up the dragging lariat, 
and with a loud bellow from the bull he is checked in his 
flight. 

On come the other horsemen, and again a swing of the lariat 
round and round, and the mustang stops, holding from the 
pommel of the saddle the lariat, which is fastened at the other 
end to the hind leg of the bullock. Another horseman swings 
his lariat and clutches the foreleg, and in a moment the poor 
bullock falls upon his side, bellowing lustily in his fright and 
rage. Then the horsemen loosen the animal, and sweep off in 
a body after fresh victims, and thus bull after bull is caught, 
and cheer after cheer goes up from our carriage — for this, in- 
deed, is rare sport, the most exciting and best we have seen in 
crossing the continent. 

It is perfectly astonishing what skill these men have ac- 
quired, and how unerringly they throw the rope, and lasso the 
mark desired. 

In their riding one can almost fancy them a part of the 
horse, for they can sway over and touch the ground when the 
horse is on a run ; and they descend the steep declivities of 
high bluffs, urging their mustangs at their full speed, and you 
\Nonder how they can make these frightful rides without being 
dashed upon the ground, a mangled mass of broken bones and 
jelly. 

Other Dairies. — Turning partly about, we drive to the Evans 
dairy, of one hundred and forty cows, and from thence to 



74 

other ranchos numbering from one hundred and fifty to one 
hundred and sixty cows. At these places the buildings, man- 
agement of cows and manufacture of butter, are all on the 
same plan as that previously described. At some dairies the 
average yield of butter at the time of my visit, was at the rate 
of half a pound a day for each cow; but in the best season, it 
had been from a pound to a pound and a quarter. At one 
place of 1,200 acres, I found a corral of heifers, a hundred of 
which were two years old, and fifty were three years of age. 
Here, during the early part of the season, the average daily 
make of butter was one pound per cow. These heifers were of 
fine form, with a good proportion of Short-Horn blood ; and 
Mr Howard thought at four years old, they would make an 
annual average of two hundred pounds of butter per cow. 

System of Farming, Suggestioyis^ dtc. — The system of farming 
over these lands is now, of course, rude and wasteful ; but Mr. 
Howard is organizing a plan for the application of manures. 
What it seemed to us should be done, is to divide the lands 
up into smaller farms — say of capacity to keep a dairy of sev- 
enty to eighty cows — and then establish butter and cheese 
factories at convenient points, where both cheese and butter can 
be made on the associated system. In this way the estate would 
become better colonized, schools and churches would grow up, 
and the families would not be so isolated. At the same time 
by relieving the tenant from the manufacture of dairy products, 
more time and opportunity would be had in improving farms. 

Mr. Howard thought it quite probable, now that a division of 
the estate had been made, that dairy farms could be purchased 
at very reasonable prices, say $25 to $30 per acre. Considering 
the climate and the nearness to the markets on the Pacific 
coast, the situation has many advantages for practical dairy- 
men who desire a residence on this part of the continent. 

Loohing out on the Pacific from the most Western Limit of Cen- 
tral California. — Desiring to see the most western limit of cen- 
tral California and come face to face with the broad Pacific, we , 



75 

kept on our way to the rocky cliff, or sharp point of land jut- 
ting out into the ocean, the extreme point of Point Reyes. 
Here the government lighthouse is in progress of erection, Mr. 
Howard having sold to the United States a hundred acres for 
that purpose. 

Looking down the cliffs upon the rocks, upon which the 
waves of the ocean were dashing and throwing up columns of 
spray, while the unceasing moan and sobbing of the mighty 
waters echoed along the shore, the sight had a sublimity which 
made a deep impression upon our hearts, and one never to be 
effaced from memory in this life. 

Here and there the seals were basking upon the rocks, or 
making their way in the foaming waters, now and then ex- 
posing a bead above the waves that ma le us almost fancy that 
they were human beings shipwrecked on the coast, and strug- 
gling to lay hold of the slippery rocks. Here we looked out 
upon the broad Pacific — as we had done a few weeks before 
upon the Atlantic, from the shores of Maine — hardly able to 
comprehend how the journey across the continent had been 
made in so brief a time, and with thanks and praise in our 
hearts to the good God who had permitted us to see all these 
wondrous works of his hand, and who had held us without 
harm in his holy keeping; and then we turned our way back 
over the rancho to San Rafael — a journey through the country 
of nearly fifty miles, which Olin, by a relay of galloping 
horses and incomparable driving, brought us over safely before 
midnight. 

Cheese Malting. — Cheese is manufactured in California, but 
the quantity is comparatively small. It is made in farm dair- 
ies, though one or two factories are soon to be established. I 
went through the storehouses in San Francisco and examined 
numerous samples of cheese. Some of it was very well made, 
meaty in texture and fair in flavor; but I saw nothing that 
could be called a " fancy article," as that term is understood in 
New York. 

One of the largest dealers in San Francisco had \ipon his 



76 

shelves about a half million of pounds. It was placed on 
shelves on each side of the store-house, extending from the 
floor to the ceiling. No samples shown me were in boxes, al- 
though the firm, I was told, dealt in New York factory cheese 
to some extent. With a climate so favorable for the produc- 
tion of good milk, and especially for the curing and keeping of 
cheese, I should expect California to be able to excel in the 
finer "fancy grades." Indeed, I know of no region having a 
temperature so admirably adapted to the production of clean, 
sweet-flavored daily products as the coast range of California. 

Influence of Climate upon Dairy Products. — The importance of 
a moderate, uniform temperature lor the manufacture of choice 
dairy goods, can not be over estimated. Much of the butter 
and cheese made in the middle and eastern states during hot 
weather, is more or less affected in flavor on account of the 
overheated condition of milk as it comes from the cow. The 
driving of cows from the pasture to the stable when the tem- 
perature is from 90 to 100 deg., has a tendency to overheat and 
injare the mdk of such cows before it is drawn, and it is ex- 
tremely difl&calt to collect a herd together during the intense 
heat of our summers without over-exercising some of the ani- 
mals to that extent that the milk will be feverish, and unsuited 
to the manufacture of fine flavored goods. Add to this the 
diSiculty of making and keeping dairy products in a tempera- 
ture not above 70 deg., when the temperature of the atmosphere 
is above 90 deg., and it will be seen why such vast quantities of 
butter and cheese made during hot weather are condemned as 
ordinary, inferior, and positively bad. 

The summer of 1870, as compared with the season of 1869, 
practically illustrates my position. The season of 1869 was 
unusually cool and even in teniperature, and at no time in the 
history of dairying has the aggregate annual cheese product 
proved to be of so uniform good flavor. The English shippers 
and cheese mongers were very greatly astonii<hed at the 
marked improvement in the flavor of American cheese that 
year, and many attributed it to the progress which had been 



77 

made in American manufacture. The English shipper, Mr. 
Webb, in summing up his remarks on the quality of Ameri- 
can cheese, says that " the whole season's make (of 1869) shows 
a decided improvement in the average quality, and larger propor- 
tion oi really choice cheese than in any former year." 

In my address before the American Dairymen's Association, 
January 12th, 1870, I pointed out quite clearly what, in my 
opinion, was the main cause of the marked improvement in 
the flavor of American cheese for the season then just passed ; 
and I now quote from that address the following paragraph, 
as summing up my views on that point : 

''Seasons like the past, (1869,) are exceptions, and the like 
may not occur again in years. It approximates more nearly 
to the summers in England than those common with us, and to 
the peculiar condition of the climate, more than anything else, 
may be attributed the general good flavor of our cheese the past 
season. And if there was anything more needed to establish 
the fact of climatic influence, reference may be had to the hot 
summer of 1868 in England, and the consequent depreciation 
that year of English cheese." 

Now, the extremely hot weather of the year 1870, put its 
black mark upon the cheese made during the time of its con- 
tinuance. Loud complaints were heard among dealers in all 
the markets, of the " hot, strong flavor " of nearly all the 
cheese sent out by the factories from the middle of July to the 
middle of August. And this condition of things will prevail 
more or less during every hot summer until some plan is in- 
augurated in the construction of curing rooms, so that tem- 
perature may be controlled; and even then the trouble from 
faulty milk, on account of overheated cows, will not be ob- 
viated. 

It will be seen, then, what an immense advantage in climate 
the coast range of California possesses, where the average tem- 
perature is about 60°, and the highest heat seldom goes above 
70°. The advantage of mild winters in saving of fodder, re- 
quiring the storing of comparatively little fodder to carry 



78 

stock along, has been alluded to. This point need not be en- 
larged upon, since dairj^men who are accustomed to feed stock 
during our cold winters, where six months' store must be pro- 
vided, will at once appreciate what advantage a milder climate 
is to the stock keeper. 

Wherever, therefore, there are grass lands in California hav- 
ing the climate I have indicated, they should be employed for 
dairying, and they will prove in course of time, I believe, more 
valuable than the grain lands ; and even now, taking one year 
with another, can be made the most remunerative. 

Markets. — Of course, the question of markets is one to be 
considered ; for if the time comes wheu the Pacific slope has a 
surplus of dairy products, where is to be the market or outlet? 
I believe a very p:ofitable trade could be opened with China 
or India for this class of goods. Indeed, some of the San 
Francisco dealers told me that shipments of cheese had been 
made to China, and with good profits to the shipper, the only 
objection being that the length of the voyage made rather slow 
returns. But a regular and steady trade opened is a different 
matter from chance shipments, and hence I see no reason why 
the dairy could not be made remunerative and enduring upon 
the Pacific slope. It is quite probable, for some time to come, 
that home consumption and home trade will take all the cheese 
that will be likely to be made upon this slope. 

Milk Dairies. — Wherever there are large cities or considerable 
towns, a supply of milk must be had, and milk dairies natur- 
ally follow and develop into a specialty. I was unable to get 
statistics as to the quantity of fresh milk used in San Francisco, 
but I obtained some facts in regard to one of the largest dairies 
employed in furnishing fresh milk for city consumption, and 
this was the 

Dairy of A. F. Oreen & Go. — It is located at Millbrae, in 
San Mateo Co., and numbers six hundred cows, San Mateo 
county lies south of San Francisco, and is bounded on the 
northeast by the Bay of San Francisco, and west by the 
Pacific. 



79 

The rancbo where this dairy is kept, embraces about 6,000 
acres. Three hundred end fifty cows are kept in milk all the 
time — that is, whenever any of this number dry up or fail in 
milk, others from the reserve are coming in milk to supply the 
vacancy, and thus the dairy is kept good all the year. 

The average quantity of milk delivered at San Francisco 
from this dairy is seven hundred gallons per day. It is put 
up in cans holding three gallons, and sold to the milk-dealers 
at seventy cents per can. The transport of the milk from the 
rancho to the city, costs about four and a-half cents per can, 
which leaves sixty-five and a-half cents for the milk, or nearly 
five and a-half cents net per quart to the proprietors. The 
milk is retailed in the city at ten cents per quart. The aver- 
age temperature upon the rancho is about 60 deg, and the milk 
is cooled off as soon as drawn by setting the cans in water 
tanks. In order to have the cans reach the city in time to be 
distributed by the milk-carriers, the cows are milked at 12 M. 
and 1 o'clock at night. 

Management and Feed of Cows. — At this establishment there 
are extensive buildings for storing fodder and housing the cows. 
The cows run out to pasture every day through the year, but 
extra feed is commenced to be given about the first of July. 
The extra feeding is carried along as the cows require, gener- 
ally up to the middle of February. 

The pasturage from the first of November to the first of Janu- 
ary is rather flashy, and is not alone of sufficient nutrition to 
keep the cows in milk. Young stock may, perhaps pick their 
living from it ; still, it is not considered good economy to al- 
low animals, whether young or old, to depend wholly on pas- 
turage during this season. The pasturage begins to be good 
about the first of January, and continues to be abundant up to 
the first of July. 

The extra feed adopted for this dairy consists per day for 
each cow as follows : ten pounds California hay, four pounds 
oil meal, four pounds Chili bean meal, and four pounds bran. 
The hay is cut and mixed with the several ingredients, when 



80 

it is steamed and the cows are fed of it morning and evening. 
Animals not in milk are fed loose hay. 

Mr. Green informed me that barley straw, cut green, made 
the best hay. The barley is sown about the first of Janu- 
ary, and the crop is cut the last of May, yielding at the rate of 
two and a half tons to the acre, if the land has been properly 
prepared and manured at the time of putting in the crop. 

Mr. Green says that the most trying time for the dairy stock 
in California is from the lirstof November to the first of Janu- 
ary, so far as feed is concerned ; for, although the pastures be- 
gin to dry up end are brown in July, still there is sufficient nu- 
trition in the "bunch grass " to carry the stock along." 

The season of 1870 had been unusually dry, and more 
trouble had been had on account of the scarcity of water than 
for any previous year. 

The cows in this dairy make an average of about ten quarts 
of milk per day for the year ; but during the " flush feed " the 
yield is from four to seven gallons of milk to the cow per day. 
About the last of May or first of June the dairy is usually 
doing its best. 

Id answer to my inquiry in regard to preserving an even 
temperature in the milk room, Mr. G. stated that not the least 
difficulty was had in keeping it at 65° the year round. 

Comparisons. — I have now given some of the leading features 
of California dairying. Having travelled over the dairy dis- 
tricts of Great Britain, France and Switzerland ; with an inti- 
mate acquaintance of the dairy lands of the eastern and middle 
states ; of the Canadas and several of the western states, I 
found upon the Pacific slope, conditions different from any- 
thing seen before. The climate, the soil and the grasses are 
different, and, indeed, as compared with other dairy sections, 
so unlike, that I often found it difficult to draw satisfactory 
conclusions. 

Up to the present time stock has been kept upon extensive 
ranges. The soil is wonderfully productive in cultivated 
crops, but whether any of our artificial grasses ca,a be intro- 



81 

duced to take the place of those natural to the soil ; whether, 
indeed, the bunch grass, underdose cropping and long contin- 
ued dairying, will prove enduring, are questions not satisfacto- 
rily solved. 

While the climate of the coast-range is low and uniform in 
temperature, some of the valleys in the interior are inten;-ely 
hot in summer. In the Sacramento valley the heat is swelter- 
ing, and, of course, dairying in such portions of the state could 
not profitably be carried on. The absence of meadows and 
the sowing of oats or barley for hay is a feature that at first 
would not strike an eastern dairyman favorably. Yet when it 
is taken into account that stock run out all winter in the fields, 
and comparatively little fodder is required, meadows, H would 
seem, are of very little account and can well be dispensed with. 
Looking over the country, as I did, at its worst season, when 
every thing is dry and parched, one would not be likelj' to be 
misled with impressions too favorable. And yet, from what 
I saw and heard, I was favorably impressed with California 
dairy lands. I found stock universally in fine, thrifty condi- 
tion. 

It was plainly evident that much less labor was required in 
the care and feeding of stock here than at the east ; that under 
ordinary management there must be a much less per centage 
of loss in stock from disease and accident, on account of the 
more favorable climate ; that fancy goods could be easily 
made, and that with proper skill in manufacture, poor stuff 
ought to be the exception rather than the rule; that with the 
same prices for dairy products as at the east, large profits 
could be realized, because dairies could be managed at less ex- 
pense, to say nothing of the difference in the price of lands. 
These, with other advantages, could not be ignored. And in 
saying this, I do not wish it to be inferred that I advise eastern 
people with good farms, eligibly located, and who are doing 
well, to pull stakes and go to California, for I believe some- 
thing in the old adage, to "let well enough alone." Still, to 
young men seeking homes in thc^ west, who are active and en- 
P. 



82 

ergetic, and have skill in dairy management, California, in my 
opinion, offers some inducements which cannot be readily 
found elsewhere. 

CONCLUSION. 

Coohing Food for Animals. — In conclusion it may not be out 
of place to refer briefly to the cooking of food for animals, as 
it begins to occupy the attention of dairymen. 

Mr. E. W. Stewart, of N". Y., who has experimented and 
written largely on this subject says: "Steaming food is less 
practicable, but even more important than cutting. Cooking 
food for animals is of comparatively recent date. A brief no- 
tice of its rationale will demonstrate its importance, as well to 
animals as to man. 

Perina says : " To render starchy substances digestible, 
they require to be cooked in order to break or crack the 
grains ; for of the difierent lamina, of w^hich each grain con- 
sists, the outer ones are the most cohesive, and present the 
greatest resistance to the digestive poiver of the stomach, while 
the internal ones are the least so." 

"Starch," says Raspail, " is not actually nutritive to man 
until it has been boiled or cooked. The heat of the stomach 
is not sufficient to burst all the grains of the feculent mass 
which issul)jected to the rapid action of this organ. 

" The stomachs of graminiverous animals and birds, seem to 
possess, in this respect, a particular power, for they use fecu- 
lent substances in a raw state. Nevertheless, recent experi- 
ments prove the advantage that result from boiling the pota- 
toes and grain, and partially altered farina, which are given to 
them for food ; for a large proportion, when given whole, in 
the raw state, passes through the intestines as perfectly unat 
fected as when swallowed." • 

Braconnot found unbroken starch grains in the excrement 
of hot blooded animals fed on raw potatoes; hence he adds, 
" The potatoes employed for feeding cattle should, be boiled, 
since, independently of the accidents which may arise from the 
use of them in a raw state, a considerable quantity of alimen- 



83 



tary matter is lost by the use of these tubers in the unboiled 
state." 




84 

So much for the effect of heat upon grain and roots ; but it 
may be asked whether we can derive the same benefit from 
cooking hay, straw, and other coarse fodder for stock. The 
following quotation from Regnault will show what difference 
exists between them, the i^tems containing woody fiber as well 
as cellulose, while roots and grains do not: 

" A microscopic examination of the various component parts 
of plants shows them all to be constitnted of cellular tissue, va- 
rying in form according to the part of the vegetable subjected to 
examination. The cavities of the tissue are filled with a very 
diversified matter; sometimes, as in the case of wood, the par- 
rities of the cells are covered by a hard and brittle substance 
called lignum, or woody fiber, which frequently almost com- 
pletely fills their interstices ; while, at other times, as in the 
grains of the cerealia, potatoes and other tubers, the cells con- 
tain a quantity of small ovoidal globules, varying in size, con- 
stituting ficula or starch ; and lastly in the case of the young 
organs of plants, the cells contain only a more or less viscous 
fluid, holding in solution mineral salts and various organic sub- 
stances. The principal of which are gum, gelatinous combi- 
nations, designated by the general name of albuminous substan- 
ces.'^ We conclude then, that if heat aids in rendering the nu- 
tritive principles of woods and grains more accessible to the 
assimilating faculty, it will also assist in softening the fiber of 
hay and straw. The cell walls which imprison the alimentary 
substances mentioned will, by the joint processes of cutting 
and steaming, be more or less broken and weakened. ' 

The following extract from Johnson's Agricultural Chem- 
istry shows the further effest of heat upon starch itself: 

''When wheat flour, potatoes or arrow root starch is spread 
upon a tray and gradually heated in an oven to a temperature 
not exceeding 300° Farenheit, it slowly changes, acquires a 
yellow or brownish tint, according to the temperature employ- 
ed, and becomes entirely soluble in cold water. It is changed 
into dextrine gum. During the baking of bread this conversion 



85 

of starch into gum takes place to a considerable extent. Thus 
Vogel found tbat flour which contained no gum gave, when 
baked, a bread of which eighteen per cent., or nearly one-fifth 
of the whole weight consisted of gum. Thus one result of 
baking is to render the flour starch more soluble, and there- 
fore more easily digested." 

Of starch, he says : "It is a property of starch of all kinds 
to be insoluble in cold water, but to dissolve readily in boil- 
ing water, and to be thickened into a jelly or paste as it cools." 

It is supposed that, by digestion, starch becomes converted 
into gum or sugar, and the latter probably becomes absorbed. 
It is also an element of respiration, and according to Liebig, 
contributes to the formation of fat in animals. This theory is, 
no doubt, well founded, and explains the fattening of animals 
when fed upon Indian corn. 

Keferring to the preceding engraving, representing the coil 
heater and steamer, the only difference between it and the 
cheese vat heater is that a check-valve is substituted for the 
lower stop-cock to the tank, and the pipe furnishing the hot 
water or steam instead of extending out horizontal, is carried 
up perpendicular, and a steam separator is attached to which 
the steam pipes are connected. 

The principle of its operation is this, when the stop-cock in 
the upper pipe is open, the water in the tank circulates through 
the coil and is heated in the same manner as in the cheese 
vat heaters, but when steam is desired this stop-cock is closed, 
the return of the water to the tank is thus cut off and it re- 
mains in the heater until steam is generated, when the mixed 
steam and water is driven up into the separator, the water be- 
ing separated, runs back into the tank and the steam passes off 
through the pipes to tbe desired points. This will continue as 
long as the stop-cock is open. During this operation the coil 
is fed with water from the tank through the lower pipe. 



AMERICAN BUTTER FACTORIES 



BUTTEE MAI^UFACTURE, 



X. A. WILLARD, A. M., 

Lecturer at the Maine State Agricultural College and at Cornell University, 
etc., etc. 


















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